The Caped Baldy of Nasuverse
by truebaldy
Summary: Re-post of The Caped Baldy of Nasuverse by Arcreed, with permission from the author.
1. Chapter 1

**All credits go to the Author, Arcreed.**

 **Hello, I think many of you might be wondering why am I re-posting the Caped Baldy of Nasuverse. Well, the truth is, since I was saddened to see his stories gone from fanfic (I've been following his story as a guest for years), I came to Arcreed-san with a proposition. I will post his stories for him, that way he doesn't have to deal with the flamers and spams anymore for I could filter it for him, and I will forward the reviews that are constructive and not insulting to his mail. Of course it didn't go as smooth as I hoped for, but after a back and forth discussion with him, I've finally managed to have him agreed to this partnership. For now, I will just post the 1** **st** **chapter because Arcreed-san has not sent the rest to me, and also I want to see if this partnership is received well by the readers.**

 **Since this is not my work and all I'm doing is just posting it, every chapter I will post 'All credits go to the author, Arcreed' at the very top. I will try to see if I can convince him to let me re-post 'The Sharingan of the Crimson Princess".**

 **ooo**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the characters and the franchises in this story**

ooo

Chapter 1

 **The day Baldy lost his house (again)**

ooo

Once, there lived a young girl.

With short blond hair and short aquamarine dress, she was the type of girl one could easily find.

However, the girl was anything but ordinary.

She had a little sister and a father. She had a loving family.

Even so, she and her family were anything but ordinary.

Her father, her sister, and herself were practitioners of magecraft.

They were what would be called magi.

However, even within her extraordinary family, she was inherently far from the common extraordinary that was magus.

She was extraordinary even by the standard of the extraordinary people.

Since her birth, she had been connected to what magi called 'Root'. Otherwise known as Akasha or Akashic Record, the source of all.

No one knew that she was connected to Root, not even her father and sister.

After all it was the dream of all magi to be able to reach the Root of everything, and if those magi found out that she had connection to the thing that they spent their entire life and even generations to reach, who knew what they would do to her.

Even so, what a boring dream that the magi had.

That was what she had always thought.

Once the reached the Root of everything and obtained all knowledge, then what?

There would no longer be things like surprise, expectation, or even dream, for you would already know everything.

All that was left would be boredom. Unquenchable boredom.

She knew, after all that was how she had lived her life up to this point.

She had fallen into despair and her worldview and personality were slowly becoming more and more distorted to the point that she had given up on everything.

She would need to be patient, however.

For now she needed to act like the kind and proper girl that they perceived her to be.

Once the time had come, once 'Heaven's Feel' had started, she could finally end her suffering.

The magi would use that opportunity to open a hole to reach Akasha, she would use that opportunity to reach out to the great evil from beyond.

She would use that opportunity to bring forth the day of reckoning and end the current world.

And so she had to be patience. Until it started she had to keep playing the role that they perceived her to be.

When that moment came, surely she would finally be able to truly laugh, cry, mad, and to truly know what it was like to be alive.

That was what she believed.

Alas, not even this girl who 'had knowledge on everything' knew that at that fateful day 'a person who is a hero for a hobby' would be her salvation, answering her silent scream for help that not even herself, despite her connection to the Root of everything, knew existed.

ooo

In a mountain region of Germany blanketed by continuously falling white snow, a large regal European-style castle stood near the riverbank. It was a revered place for magi, for it was the residence of the esteem Einzbern family, a famous and powerful family of magi, and one of the founding families of Fuyuki's Holy Grail War. It was even said that the Third Magic was once belonged to this family but was lost due to some unknown circumstances.

An old man known as Jubstacheit von Einzbern currently headed this family, and their greatest goal was to reclaim the lost Third Magic through winning the Holy Grail War.

And for that, Jubstacheit had created a homunculus, a special homunculus in the form of a woman that would serve as the container for the Holy Grail.

And that homunculus right now was seating on a chair, looking at the Servant that her husband had summoned for the upcoming Holy Grail War.

"Saber, do you want to drink tea with me?" asked the homunculus, Irisviel von Einzbern. She was a beautiful woman with pale complexion and long, flowing white hair. Her pose was graceful, yet her cheerful smile was almost childish.

Overall she had a 'high class yet innocent lady' kind of feeling coming from her.

The person whom she addressed as Saber was a blond-haired girl in an armoured dress. One might felt the aura of royalty and nobility coming from her in her presence. That was because she was none other than the legendary King Arthur of Britain, and she had been summoned as a Servant to fight in the Holy Grail War as a Servant of Emiya Kiritsugu.

Publicly, though, she was known as a Servant of Irisviel.

The girl, Saber, shook her head and returned her attention to the sight outside the window, specifically to the two individuals who were playing on that snowy forest.

"It confuses me..." Saber voiced her thought for Irisviel to hear. "Irisviel, what manner of person is my master?"

"Hmm…" Irisviel put a finger on her cheek, contemplating on the question. "Instead of asking me, why don't you decide by yourself by seeing his actions? I'm sure you will understand what a great person Kiritsugu is," Irisviel said. Her face was beaming with innocence-filled belief on her husband.

Saber could only smile wryly seeing her 'master's' innocence, thinking it was ironic that this homunculus was able to show a far more human-like emotion than her human husband.

ooo

At the same time in Fuyuki, a golden-haired Servant was observing the world, the domain that was and had always been his, through the eyes of his 'servants' from his throne in the manor that belonged to the Tohsaka family, another one of the founding families of Fuyuki Holy Grail War and the owner of the land.

The golden Servant scowled as he took in the view of the current world, making no effort to hide his distaste of his subjects.

"Tokiomi, it seems that in my absence the number of mongrels has increased exponentially," the golden Servant said to a gentlemanly-looking middle-aged man who was standing near the wall.

He was a tall man with slightly tanned skin, wearing a red-suit, and complete with a goatee on his middle-aged face. He radiated the aura of antiquity and old fashioned European noble. To put it simply he was a very traditional person, adhering strictly to the tradition and lifestyle of a magus.

Tokiomi bowed his head in humility towards the golden Servant.

"Please show them your mercy, my king. Since your time of death, humanity has been divided over and over until they finally lost the strength and pride that they were once proud of," the current head of the Tohsaka family pleaded, causing the golden Servant to snort in disdain.

"Hah! Tokiomi, you spoke as if you are any different from them," the golden Servant said, causing Tokiomi to flinch slightly. "Remember this well, it doesn't matter to me that you are a magus, mongrel is still a mongrel. Those who claim otherwise are simply fools who forget their place."

Tokiomi remained silent as he kept his posture. Then, he nodded his head in compliance.

"I will carve your words in my heart, my king," Tokiomi said, showing his off his humility and obedience towards the Servant. Deep down, however, he was frustrated at his Servant's behaviour and his own inability to control him.

The golden Servant snorted, returning his sight to the bright moon outside the window. The light of the moon almost looked ominous, as if signally the upcoming disaster that would strike the world.

"Those Servants better worth my time, or else…" the golden Servant spat, his eyes filled with contempt.

There was a proverbial phrase 'be careful what you wish for', and in this case the golden Servant still had no idea at this time that he would receive far more than what he was expecting.

ooo

"Quite an unsightly spectacle…" a man in a priest clothing whispered to himself as he silently listened to the conversation between his teacher and his Servant from behind the wall.

"To lower himself, swallowing his pride, casting away his self, all in order to reach his goal…I could never understand how magus operate," the man thought.

His gaze then shifted to the shadow that was crouching on a tree outside.

"No matter…I will just do what my father and my teacher expect me to do…for now."

ooo

"Gahahahahaha!"

"W-wait up, Rider!"

"It's fine! It's fine! To let bottles of wine being displayed likes trophies is in itself a sin that this King of Conqueror could overlook!"

"That doesn't mean you can just go and rob the wine shop!"

A big, burly red-head man and a young, slender boy exchanged a heated conversation (well, heated in the boy's eyes only, though) as they quickly made their way out after busting the wine store, carrying dozens of wine and beer bottles back with them.

ooo

"I take it all the preparations have been completed?"

"Do not worry, Sola-Ui, with this network of familiars, no matter the who the master is and what manner of Servant he has, none of them will slip through our detection."

"Humph, I expect at least this much. What about Lancer?"

"What about him?"

"Are you not going to give him his order?"

"Why yes, but not now. No, the right time will come soon.

ooo

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"Patience…soon…soon…the chance to strike down our prey will come…"

ooo

"Ryuunosuke, this is how you preserve 'art' as long as possible."

"WHOAAA! That's like, SUPER AWESOME! I didn't know we could do that to the human body.

"Master, it appears you have much to learn. Come, let me share my knowledge on 'art'."

"Seriously? Man, you're awesome!"

ooo

She was dancing.

Her heart was in joy.

All the seven Servants had been summoned, leaving none for her to participate in the 'war'.

Even so, her heart leaped with joy and she could not stop herself from dancing with giddiness.

"It is here, it is here, the moment it is born everything will perish~," the girl sang.

She was standing in a deep, dark and large cave, below Mount Enzo in Miyama.

She was dancing in joy because this was the site where 'it' could be born.

She had no need for regular Servant with a normal class.

'It' was a Servant that would allow her to fulfil her wish.

She could summon 'it' because she knew there were flaws in the system of the War and that the Grail itself had been corrupted.

So she danced with joy.

For 'it' was an existence so evil and corrupted that 'it' would bring forth nothing but destruction to the world.

The incarnation of 'All the World's Evil'.

Once she had summoned it, the melody of ruin would automatically begin to play from within the miracle.

She had lied to her father and sister, telling them that she would summon the mightiest of all Servants and opened the path to Akasha.

Ah…what would their faces look like when they finally realize what she was about to do?

She could not contain her excitement at the prospect of discovering that unknown territory.

And so she sang her incantation with joy.

 _Fill Fill Fill Fill Fill_

 _Fill the Cup Ten Times and Empty the Cup Ten Times_

 _Destroy the Cup Five Times and Rebuilt the Cup Five Times_

 _Repeat the Process Until Nothing But Blackness Remains_

 _Oh Ye Who is Cursed By the World and Curse the World_

 _Oh Ye Who is Hated By the World and Hate the World_

 _Oh Ye Who is Outside of Order and Bound to Chaos_

 _Oh Ye Who Despise and is Despised by the Order_

 _Oh Ye Who is Both a Subject and a Sire Of Chaos_

 _Life is a Lie, Death is the Truth_

 _Life is a Curse, Death is Salvation_

 _From the Plane of Gaia, I summoned Thee From the Root of Everything_

 _Heed My Call as the Avatar of Akasha, Oh Harbinger of Death_

The girl finished her incantation and a wicked smile etched itself on her face as the whole cave started to glow with ominous purple light, the sign that her summoning was successful.

ooo

As the beginning of the fourth Holy Grail War was all but started, in another world completely different from where the Servants and masters lived in, a certain bald man was having a casual walk.

His look, his aura, everything about this man screamed nothing but average. If it weren't for his bald head and the hoodie with the word 'Oppai' displayed as clear as the sun on the chest, people wouldn't even think twice about paying attention at the man.

The man himself was content with people not paying any attention for him; reason why because he didn't give a flying F about what people thought about him.

And also because he had a far more urgent thing to be done.

"Where is it?" the bald man muttered, his voice crackling and his body was drenched in sweat.

The bald man was in pain.

It was almost unbearable and if he's careless for even a second, he felt it would be over for him.

Even so, he had to do this.

He had to find its whereabouts.

To do it somewhere else was out of question.

GRUUGLE

"NU!"

The bald man slowly brought a hand to his stomach.

GRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGLEEEE

GRUGLEGRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUG

"Hu!"

As the bald man held his stomach with his hands, his eyes fell upon the salvation that would finally relief him from this pain.

What his sight fell into was a door…with the word 'TOILET' displayed clearly.

"FOUND IT!" the bald man ran into the supermarket where the toilet was, smiling, knowing that the nightmare would finally be over.

However, as his hand reached to the knob and spin it, his expression turned to one of horror.

"SOMEONE'S USING IT! FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCKKKK!"

The bald man fell to the ground as he wailed at this denial of salvation.

To truly understand what exactly happened to the bald man and how it happened, we must go back to around half an hour ago.

ooo

 **~ Flashback ~**

GRUUUUUGLE

"Aah…my stomach hurts…" the bald man muttered as he entered his toilet. "Eh…" As his eyes took the sight of his toilet, he noticed a peculiarity.

"Where's the tissues?" the man thought. He was sure he had stock it up a week ago, but now there's not a single sheet left.

Where did it go?

No, more importantly…

GRUUUGLEEE

"Guess I've got no choice, I'll just go to a convenience store or public toilet."

And so the man ran to the public toilet, but once he arrived there, he could do nothing but look with twitching eyes.

'CLOSED FOR RENOVATION'

The man looked at the sign, scratching his head as he turned away from his first option.

"Oh well, guess I'll just have to use the one in the convenience store."

And so the man ran to the closest convenience store, yet once he arrived there for the second time he was greeted with similar sign.

'CLOSED FOR REPARATION'

"…"

With a blank look, the bald man silently left as he went to search for another toilet.

And thus the man ran to the department store near the station, yet once he arrived there he was greeted with an army of toilet users.

The number of people that needed to use the toilet was so high that the queue went outside the department store.

"1…2…3…" The bald man started counting how many more until it was finally his turn, but once the number hit double digit he started to sweat a bit, and once it hit triple digit his face turned pale. "731…732...733…"

GUUURUUURURUUUUUUUU

"Hiii!"

The man instantly held his stomach. The call of nature was becoming unbearable.

And so he abandoned the department store and searched for another toilet.

However…

'CLOSED FOR REPARATION'

'NEW TOILET IN CONSTRUCTION'

'CLEANING IN PROGRESS'

"Umm…this toilet was demolished three days ago…"

"Hey! Stand in line, baldy!"

The bald man panted, not from exhaustion but from the sheer fact that every single toilet was either being serviced or he had to stand in very long line to get into one.

And so…the man screamed as the gravity of the situation dawned upon him.

"DAAAAAAAAAAAMNNN IIIIITTTTTT!""

GUUUUUURRUUUURURURURUUUUUU

"Hu!" the man started to sweat as he felt the call of nature became more intense than ever before. "If it came down to this, maybe…" The man looked at the bush.

That bush looked like it could hide a grown up adult…

The man instantly shook his head, erasing any thought of answering the call of nature in its natural habitat.

"If there isn't one in the city…then what about outside!?"

Thus the man ran again until he finally reached the first supermarket just barely outside the city.

ooo

And thus that was how the man reached the situation that he was currently in.

"Manager, is there other toilet here?" the bald man asked.

The shopkeeper looked away from his newspaper and observed the bald man who asked that question.

"That's the only one," the shopkeeper answered, devastating the bald man. Then as if that wasn't enough, the shopkeeper informed the bald man of the cruel reality. "Also, there's no other supermarket or convenience store beyond this point. If you want to use the toilet, either you wait until that person finish or you use the public toilets in the city."

"…"

The bald man looked as if he had given up on his bottom.

But then he had a bright idea…that made him instantly lament why he didn't think about it earlier.

If he didn't have tissues, all he needed to do was to buy them of course.

With his speed, after he bought tissues he could instantly run back to his house and use his toilet.

Having thought about that, the bald man reached out to his pockets…only to discover that he forgot to bring money.

The bald man was shattered, and he limply made his way out of the supermarket.

"Hey, you're not gonna wait for the toilet?" the shopkeeper asked.

"No…I have accepted that it is my calling to return to 'it' directly to mother nature," the bald man weakly replied.

"?" The shopkeeper tilted his head in confusion, but shrugged off the bald man's condition and returned to his newspaper.

The bald man walked limply as the calling of the stomach became more and more intense.

GYUUUUUURRURUURUURUURURUGRUUUUGLEGURURURUURUURURUURUURUURURURUURUURRUUUU

The man fell to the ground.

"Is this…how it ends?"

GYUUUUURURURURU

"At the very least…at the very least…if only I have something to wipe it…" the bald man lamented. A wizened chuckle immediately grabbed his attention. The bald man looked up and saw an old man standing over him.

 _"…Who is this old man? Cosplaying as a wizard…does he not have anything better to do?"_ the bald man thought as he took in the old man's appearance

The old man really looked like a wizard. With black and purple robe, complete with a cane, he had to be a really hardcore cosplayer.

The old man bowed his head down to get a clearer look at the bald man. "Need a help, young man?" the old man asked.

"…Uh, no, not really."

The old man laughed merrily. "No need to be reserved, I know you're in quite a pinch right now."

"…Yeah? How did you know?"

"That's because I'm a 'magician'," the old man answered, grinning mischievously.

"…"

The bald man stood up, and he admiringly put his hands on the old man's shoulders.

"I'm impressed old man. You've dedicated yourself to keep your purity for such a long time."

The old man blinked, not understanding what the bald man was saying. "What exactly are you talking about?"

"Well, weren't you able to become a magician because you stay single and a virgin the whole time?" the bald man asked.

Instantly the old man hit the bald man with his cane. "…You totally got the wrong idea. I'm not that kind of magician."

The bald man remained unfazed and unscathed even though he had been hit really hard with the old man's wooden cane. "Then what? Are you gonna pull out something from your sleeve? A bird maybe? If so, take it somewhere else. I have no time for this," the bald man said. He started to lose his patience, especially since he could already feel the thing moving down from his stomach to somewhere in his bottom.

"Something like that, but what I will pull out will solve your problem," the old man said. He reached into his sleeve and then he pulled out a long red cloth. It was long enough that he could probably wrap it around his waist four times.

"Okay…" the bald man could only mutter that word as he was far from impressed with that cheap display of trickery. "Now what?"

"Now…I give this to you," the old man said, handing over the cloth to the bald man.

The bald man looked at the cloth and then at the old man. "I get it now. Old man, you're actually a door-to-door salesman, aren't you? Sorry, but I don't need this. I don't have any money with me either," the bald man said.

"That's for free," the old man said.

"What?"

"That is a failed product, you see. It did not turn out as I was expecting," the old man explained.

"…Wait, isn't this very dangerous, then? Why would you give out a failed product to me?" the bald man complained.

"You see…" the old man walked closer to the bald man, and he brought his mouth closer to the bald man's ear. The old man then whispered, "Instead of wiping out inorganic things, that cloth instead turned out to be very effective in wiping out organic objects."

Revelations dawned upon the bald man, as he started to understand the old man's words. "So you're saying…."

"It will feel really good after you use it, you know? Your bottom that is…"

The bald man looked at the red cloth as if it was his salvation. He instantly bowed his head in gratitude towards the old man. "Old man, thank you very much!"

The next instant the bald man disappeared, leaving behind the old man who was laughing from seeing the bald man's vigour.

The old man stared into the distance, specifically to where the bald man was heading, and then he heaved out a heavy sigh.

…

…

…

"Will you be able to change the scenario of ruin that has been playing for so long…Saitama, no, Caped Baldy," the old man whispered. He then took out three rolls of tissues from his robe, three rolls of tissues that he had obtained from the house of a certain baldy. "Now…what should I do with these?"

ooo

The girl's heart leaped with joy.

The summoning was complete.

In the middle of the cave stood what appeared to be a rectangular box made of stone.

It was without a doubt the 'cage' where 'All of the World's Evil' was sealed in.

The girl playfully jumped towards the 'cage', all the while thinking how many years, months, weeks, days, hours, seconds, had she waited for this moment.

She affectionately caressed the 'cage' where it remained dormant still.

All she needed to do was to break it open. Once it revealed itself, it would automatically begin spreading its corruption to every corner of the world.

"Show yourself…Angra Mainyu," the girl joyfully sang.

Black tentacles appeared from beneath her feet, from her left, from her right, it was all around her. In fact the whole cave had been covered with black tentacles that the young girl had created.

She was an extraordinary existence.

As a magus her magic circuits was beyond measurement, to the point where the word phenomenal would severely undermine its quality, and with its abnormal, unprecedented composition, combined with her connection to the Root, she could accomplish things that no other magus could.

It was not even an exaggeration to put her on the same level of those who carried the miracles from the Root, the 'magicians'.

The girl commanded her tentacles to break open the 'cage 'of 'All the World's Evil', and so they did.

First the tentacles ripped the right side of the 'cage', and then it tore apart the left side and the top simultaneously.

Once it had finished, all that was left was the wall in front of her.

The wall that prevented her from meeting her 'Servant'.

The girl commanded the tentacles to shred the wall in front of her.

Finally…

Finally…

Finally…

Her Servant…All the World's Evil was hers.

"Eh?"

That was not the reaction that she herself had expected.

She herself didn't know she could have such a reaction.

Reason being, instead of the incarnation of 'All the World's Evil', what stood in front of her was…

"…The hell did you do that for? You got a problem with my bathroom?"

…a naked bald man.

"…."

The girl was speechless as she stared at the man stood in his birthday suit in all its glory.

For the second time, the girl herself didn't know she could have a reaction like this.

ooo

The bald man's eyes were fixated upon the girl.

After he had finished answering the call of nature, he decided to take a nice long bath when the power suddenly went out.

The bald man did not realize that at that time the red cloth that he used to wipe his bottom clean was softly glowing with purple light, and that his bathroom was enveloped by similar light.

When he was about to put on his clothes again so he could go out to see the cause of the blackout, suddenly his bathroom was torn apart and a little girl stood in front of him…with a baffled expression on her face.

"No, no, it's me who should be confused," the bald man thought.

More importantly…

"…The hell did you do that for? You got a problem with my bathroom?" the bald man asked, irritated that his brand new bathroom was already roughed up when he had only used it for a week. "Wait a second, where did my house go? It's gone again?" the baldy asked as he realized his apartment room had been replaced with a giant cave. "Oh well, at least I didn't pay for it," the bald man thought, casually tossing aside the fate of his new house to the back of his mind.

"…Angra Mainyu is actually a pervert exhibitionist baldy?" the girl asked, completely unable to belief that the incarnation of all evil was a giant pervert.

Instantly, cross-popping veins appeared on the bald man's head. "Oi! Who do you call a baldy, huh!?"

The bald man totally ignored the fact that he was also called a pervert exhibitionist.

The girl dismissed the bald man's anger, and simply carried on with life like it was nothing.

"No matter," the girl began. "Servant Avenger, I am your master Sajyou Manaka. I have call upon you to carry forth the true purpose of your existence. To participate in the Holy Grail War and bring forth corruption and destruction upon this world." the girl, Manaka, explained.

…

…

…

The bald man slowly picked his nose.

"The hell you're talking about? I'm no servant, I'm a hero," the bald man said.

"Huh?"

"Besides, causing destruction upon the world…little girl, even an office lady who is bored out of her mind wouldn't do that," the bald man added.

"Wait, it is your nature to destroy and kill every human, right? You are Angra Mainyu, after all."

The man picked his nose again, not understanding a single thing that the girl was blabbering about.

"No, like I said, what are you talking about? I have not a single clue about it. Also, my name is not Angra Mainyu, it's Saitama," the bald man, Saitama, revealed.

"S-Saitama?" The girl was exasperated. Could it be she had made a mistake somewhere in the summoning ritual? But it couldn't be. Plus, for some reason she knew nothing about this man after hearing that name. Usually information from the Root was sent into her head once she identified something, but there was nothing about this man.

Manaka took out a book from her bag.

That book served one purpose.

And that is to show the information of the Servants.

Since he had revealed his name, the full details of his information should have appeared in the book.

Manaka opened it, skim through the pages, and smiled once she found what she was looking.

She became speechless, though, as she read the class of her newly summoned Servant.

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh!? Servant Class…INAPPLICABLE!?"

As the cave was filled with the surprised screaming of a young girl, the Servant, the Caped Baldy, Saitama, was wondering what he would have for dinner.

ooo

 **End of Chapter 1**


	2. Servant Status Sheet

**Servant Status Sheet**

 **~ If the heroes run and hide, who will stay and fight?**

Servant Class: Baldy (?)

True Name: Saitama

Also known as: Caped Baldy, One Punch Man, That B rank who drank tea in the meeting, Hero, Sensei, Baldy, Cheater, Groin breaker, Wiseman of the Mountain

Master: Sajyou Manaka

Alignment: Neutral Good

Symbol: His bald head

 **\- Parameters -**

Strength: EX (Immeasurable)

Endurance: EX (Immeasurable)

Agility: EX (Immeasurable)

Mana: EX (Immeasurable)

Luck: E (D)

Despite his status as the mightiest being, Saitama has a really bad luck. Not only was he rejected by the workforce, which fortunately led to him becoming a hero, his deeds were not even recognized by the mass until he became a professional hero. However, why his luck is so low is mainly because he has not and most likely will never find the one thing that he seeks after becoming a hero: a villain strong enough to fight him on equal footing. This rotten luck in finding a worthy opponent has cast him into an existential crisis, which in turn downgrades his luck from D to E.

On the other hand, even though Saitama has never been exposed to magic before, the moment he remove his limiter his mana increases alongside his physical ability, raising it from the volume of a normal man to immeasurable.

 **\- Personal Information -**

Gender: Male

Birthday: ?

Height/Weight: 175 cm / ?

Blood type: ?

Place of origin: Z-city

Hair colour: None

Eye colour: Black / Dark Brown

Armament: Yellow jumpsuit, red gloves and boots, white cape, Pajama, Oppai shirt

Likes: Sales, strong villain, money, tea, heroism

Value: Heroism

Dislike: Mosquitos, his bald head being mentioned, missing a sale

Talents: Unintentionally trolling people, defeating villains with one punch, picking nose, scratching his butt, getting lost, lazing around all day

Natural enemy: Mosquitos

 **\- Class Skills -**

 **Magic Resistance – EX :** Despite his absolute lack of magecraft knowledge of any kind, nor exposure to it, Saitama's endurance is so high that he is nigh-invulnerable to any attacks his enemy could possibly throw at him. Even attacks that can eliminate cities will not leave a scratch on him. His nigh-invulnerability allows him to casually receives even an attack from Magic user and remain unfazed for it shields him from all form of attacks.

 **Independent Action – EX:** Due to his extreme laziness and his my pace attitude, combined with his immense power, there is a few to no individual who can control him. His limitless pool of mana allows him to stay as a masterless Servant for an indefinite period of time. His strength of will render it impossible for any masters to try to bring him under control using command seals, no matter how many they used. This ability, on the other hand, means that his master has no need to supply him with mana, nor his noble phantasms are restricted by his master's lack of mana.

 **\- Personal Skills -**

 **Bravery – A (EX):** Saitama is fearless in most situations, no matter what enemy he is facing or what it looks like, since it will only be as exciting as picking a gallon of milk from the supermarket, their forms and strength will not deter him in the slightest. He has never been affected by confusion or pressure even when the mass has turned against him. On the other hand, there are a few things that Saitama is afraid of. First is a large swarm of mosquitos. The second one is the old hag landlady asking for rent money.

 **Instinct – EX:** Saitama possesses super hearing and sight. He could see and hear the presence of life from kilometres away even under the darkest of night.

 **Charisma – C (B):** Despite being a generally hated hero, Saitama has garnered quite a few individuals who are loyal to him (much to his chagrin) and heroes who look up to him, at least for his strength if not for what he stood up for. The most prominent being his disciple and closest acquaintances: Genos, Fubuki, King, Silver Fang, and Licenseless Rider.

 **Laziness – EX:** Saitama will only leave his room when: 1. There is a villain to be defeated, or 2. He runs out of ingredients to make food, or 3. There's a sale going on.

 **\- Noble Phantasms -**

 **~ His Shiny, Slick Bald Head ~**

Type: Anti-Army Noble Phantasm / Anti-Unit Noble Phantasm

Rank: B / EX

It is said in a long lost legend…that the most beautiful bald head is one that can reflects the ray of sun, illuminating even the darkest of places. As a possessor of a shiny, slick bald head, if a light ray, no matter how small, was to be directed to Saitama's head, legend told that his head will shine with the blinding intensity that can only be matched by the sun, capable of blinding anyone within the range of the light. On the other hand, when there is no light source he can instead use his head to shatter his enemy with a simple head-butt.

 **~ Nose Picking – The Ultimate Way of Killing the Tension ~**

Type: Anti-Unit Noble Phantasm

Rank: A (EX)

This Noble Phantasm is the greatest form of disrespect and boredom towards his enemy, although Saitama himself may not realize this and simply picks his nose because it's itching. This Noble Phantasm is capable of drawing the ire of even the most composed of Servants, while Gilgamesh is exceptionally susceptible to this Noble Phantasm due to his ego.

 **~ 'Normal Punch' ~**

Type: Anti-Unit Noble Phantasm

Rank: EX

Saitama's 'Normal Punch'. This is his most basic form of punch, which is akin of simply flailing his hand to defeat his enemy. However, the strength of this Noble Phantasm is such that most of his enemies exploded from the force of the punch the moment they received it. Even the mightiest of beings will be badly injured if they receive one of these punches.

 **~ 'Consecutive Normal Punches' ~**

Type: Anti-Unit Noble Phantasm

Rank: EX

Saitama's normal combo. While a normal punch can cause his enemy to explode, this Noble Phantasm is strong enough to instantly liquefy his enemy, leaving only a pool of blood and chunks of slightly lucky body parts behind.

 **~ Super Move 'Serious Series': Serious Strike ~**

Type: Anti-World Noble Phantasm (possibly Anti-Universe at full power)

Rank: - (Immeasurable)

One of Saitama's Serious Series move. The power of this Noble Phantasm is such that it is strong enough to easily overwhelm other Anti-World Noble Phantasms, even the likes of Ea, and destroy the enemy without even having to physically hit him with his fist. While his normal punches are capable of affecting the environment of a city or a country, a single 'Serious Punch' from Saitama is more than capable of affecting the entire world, evident when he part the atmosphere from the time when he first used this Noble Phantasm.a


	3. Chapter 2

**All credits go to the author, Arcreed.**

 **ooo**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the characters and franchises in this story.**

 **ooo**

Chapter 2

 **Master is a Hardcore Chuunibyou**

ooo

The girl who was connected to the Root was thinking.

Where to even begin describing the view in front of her.

She had summoned a Servant...who could not be applied into any of the classes.

Not to mention her servant was an odd one.

Her Servant was complaining to her that she had destroyed his bathroom.

And as if that wasn't enough, he completely forgot to wear his clothes and continued to go commando in front of her, a girl.

Surely that was already at the highest level in term of sexual harassment, right?

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

After she had reminded him very gently that he was still naked, by blasting him with Gandr, a Scandinavian curse, the bald Servant, Saitama, picked up his clothes from a broken sink.

She was a bit curious, though, about her Servant's strength. The Gandr that she fired was powered by her od, which was extraordinarily powerful and comparable to beings such as Dragons or True Demons.

Naturally her Gandr was several hundred times more potent, powerful, and larger than even the greatest of magi, and without a doubt it should be capable of harming even Servants.

If she wanted to, a full-powered Gandr from her could even knock a Servant out of commission for an entire day.

Yet…

'Wow, that's the first time I saw something like that. Are you also a magician?'

Was what her Servant, who was completely unscathed, asked after he received a direct attack from her.

She briefly wondered how high his endurance and magic resistance were if he could received a potent curse without any effect when the bald man revealed the hoodie that he had put on.

"…"

His hoodie had the image of woman's breast on the chest and the word 'Oppai' labeled on top of it.

Why would he wear something like that, though?

In the first place, what kind of person was he that he would wear something like that?

She had no information whatsoever about him as a person.

Aside from his bald head, that is.

But really, why would he wear something like that in front of a girl?

"Ah…"

Manaka then realized something crucial.

She did not know.

Not knowing might seem like a trivial thing. After all, there was no way for someone to know everything.

But the concept of 'not knowing' was supposed to be non-existent for this girl. The very fact that she was unable to 'not know' was one of the main reasons why she found life to be unbearably dull and torturous.

Yet, now for the very first time, she experienced what it felt like to not know something.

And it was…exhilarating.

The fear of the unknown, the uncertainty of the future, those were things that were denied to her before.

Even so, she felt nothing but joy.

Manaka looked at her Servant with sparkling eyes as she was thinking about what kind of scenario this was.

"I get it~," Manaka excitedly thought.

This had to be that. This had to be sexual harassment. There was no mistake; her Servant was sexually harassing her right now.

"Are you harassing me?" Manaka curiously asked with an innocent face.

She had to be honest; the idea of being sexually harassed was a welcome change to her boring life.

The sexual harasser, Saitama, could only mutter, "Huh?"

"You are harassing me, right? You are sexually harassing me, right?" Manaka pressed on. "So, not only my summoning is a failure by summoning a baldy who is an exhibitionist instead of Angra Mainyu, but it turns out he is also a sexual predator who openly display his lust for oppai to his prey. Aah~, what will it be? What will it be? What will this lowest of the lowest scums do to me with those dirty hands? Hey! Hey! Hey! Are you going to violate me? You are, aren't you? You are going to assault me, violate me and use me to your heart content. You are such a lustful Servant, after all, aren't you? What will you do to me? Hey! I know! You must be planning to take my virginity in that clean bald head of yours!" Manaka said with a deranged smile on her face.

"…Uh…no."

"It's useless to lie. You are clearly one. Else, why would you display that on your chest so clearly? Aah~, I get it, so this is how you lure your prey, isn't it? You will try to convince me that you are harmless and then attack me when I wasn't looking, isn't it? Isn't it, isn't it? Aah~, just thinking about it… Hey! Hey! How will you do it? Are you going to rip my dress and ram it straight into me? Are you going to torture me first? Are you going to be rough or gentle? Are you going to put me in bondage? Should I undress? I should, should I! You are going to do as you like with my breasts, aren't you? Hey, tell me, what will you do? Why do I know nothing about you? Why is it that your information not coming into my head? Hey, tell me. Tell me…tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me~!

"…" With dark face Saitama silently walked back to whatever remained of his bathroom, took off his hoodie, and put on a yellow jumpsuit, red gloves and boots, and a white cape. Then, he made his way back to Manaka.

Tilting her head, Manaka inspected the new outfit of her Servant and innocently said, "What's that? You look like a complete weirdo."

Instantly, a cross-popping vein appeared on Saitama's smooth bald head.

"I wear my hoodie, and you call me a sexual predator! I wear my hero outfit, and you call me a weirdo! What the fuck is your problem anyway!?" Saitama angrily asked, roaring at the girl.

Blinking, Manaka walked closer to Saitama until she was just arm away from him. "My problem? Will you hear me out, Servant?"

"Eh? I feel like I've been in a situation like this before?" Saitama thought. Then he paled as he realized that it was like this as well that one time with his disciple, Genos. "Oh…crap…sto-!"

"I was born in an ordinary family of magi. As a magus, my father is only slightly better than average, while my sister is an example of a hopeless case of a magus, she had no real magecraft talent, and her magic circuits are also very poor in quality. But for some reason, I was completely different to them. You see, I am connected to the Root of Everything, which means I have knowledge of everything. The first time I realized this connection was when I was just two years old. It was on my second birthday, to be precise. Father came back home carrying two boxes of present for me, and at that moment, I knew what the content of those boxes was, a pair of gloves and a blue dress. After that, every time I was asking a question, every time I wondered about something, every time I see something, knowledge rushed into my head. There was this one time when I was walking down the intersection, and without my consent knowledge that an accident would occur entered my mind, saving my life. Another time I was walking down the hallway of my school and the knowledge that I would bump into the number one guy in the school and fall the stair with me on top of him entered my mind. Then another time, my friend introduced me to her boyfriend, only for knowledge that he secretly lust after me and only using my friend to get closer to me came rushing in. Do you understand what I am saying? For me, there are no such concepts like 'surprise', 'don't know', or 'looking forward.' It was such a boring life that it feels like slipping to insanity is far better than staying sane."

Saitama closed his eyes, sensing that this girl was somewhat similar to him, and said, "I see. I get i-."

"And then in my second year of elementary school, there was this birthday party that the whole class prepared for a girl in my class," Manaka continued.

"Eh? Wai-, hold on," Saitama's face turned pale once again.

"The boy who had a crush on the girl secretly licked the plastic knife that was to be used to cut the cake. Do you know much in despair I was to know about it but had no way to prove it? And then there was that incident where a boy secretly stole one of the girls' swimsuits and used it to relieve himself. And then whenever it was my birthday, I already knew in advance what my father and sister prepared for me, the presents, what they have in store for the surprise party."

 **TAP TAP TAP**

Saitama began tapping his foot, his patience running thin.

"When I was studying magecraft, I know exactly the compositions of the magic, the required amount of od to perform it, and how to perform it. My father hails me as a genius, but do you know how unsatisfying it was to accomplish something when it didn't even require any hard work?"

 **TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP**

"The same goes with magic from the age of gods, while I was not compatible with it and can't use it, to know how noble phantasms were created, to know how magic was back then, and then realizing that the current world is far inferior, it severely reduce the values of magi and the current humanity. No wonder those magi are dead set in trying to reach Root. Oh, also…there was this one time when I was in my first year of high scho-."

"Too long! Summarize your point into ten words max!" Saitama yelled, drowning Manaka's voice.

"My point?" Manaka repeated, tilting her head. Then, a deranged smile returned to her face. "My point is this. I will destroy this boring world and to do that I will have you disappear~."

"1…2…3…that's fifteen words…" Saitama said, showing her his fingers.

The next moment, ten black tendrils shot out from the ground behind Saitama and twined around Saitama's hands, legs, stomach, neck, and his bald head. The tendrils then held Saitama mid-air for Manaka.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Saitama asked, looking down at Manaka.

In response thousands of black tentacles instantly appeared all around him from every angle.

"Uhuhuhuhuhuhu~, it was fun talking with you, Servant-san. However, if you continue to exist, I won't be able to bind Angra Mainyu in this world~," Manaka cheerfully said.

"You keep saying that name, but who the hell is Angra Mainyu?" Saitama asked.

"The Persian god of darkness. I'm not talking about the bastardized version of it that was made of flesh and blood and is called 'evil god' instead. I'm talking about the actual god of darkness, the one that exists since the age of gods," Manaka explained.

With an unimpressed look on his face, Saitama simply said, "Ok..."

"But, well, evil itself is an aspect of darkness, so in that sense, it is not wrong to call it a god of evil. But that was not the only thing that darkness is made of. Do you know what the greatest aspect of darkness is?"

"…Oh, I like watching movies in the dark. It makes the light brighter," Saitama said, smiling as he remembered the time when his disciple wasn't around to disturb him watching films at night.

"Bo-boo~, wrong~. It's pure, unrestrained, indiscriminate destruction that brings forth absolute nothingness," Manaka said. "Angra Mainyu may not be the most important of gods, but in term of sheer destruction, nothing in the world except for the spider and the dog comes close to its ability to incite total destruction. Wait, no, I was wrong. That was incorrect," Manaka playfully hit her head. "The spider and the dog are only good at killing humans; they won't be able to destroy the world since they are, in a way, connected to Mother Gaia."

"..."

"While I was indeed connected to the Root, my vessel is still that of a flesh and blood, and my magic circuits are still that of a human's. It is impossible for me to bind Angra Mainyu's existence in Gaia as a Servant while being contracted to another Servant, much less controlling it for my bidding. Despite its weakened form, Angra Mainyu is still a god after all," Manaka explained.

"…"

"Do you have anything to say before I erase your existence, Servant-san?"

Saitama was silent, but after putting two and two together, he reached a certain interpretation.

"I get it; you're roleplaying, aren't you?" Saitama asked.

"What?"

"The setting is perfect, a fantasy world where the god of darkness resides and terrorize the world…you're the girl magician who's tasked with summoning the hero…and I'm the hero who is entrusted with the task of defeating it," Saitama nodded his head in understanding. "I thought you were a bit of a nutcase earlier, but it seems I was wrong. You're just a hardcore chuunibyou!" Saitama said to the girl, confident that his deduction was spot on.

"…" Manaka was flabbergasted. Her actions were taken simply as a game? Slowly Manaka raised a hand and pointed her finger at Saitama. Then, with a voice devoid of emotions, she said, "Eliminate him."

The instant she said that command, the black tentacles all shot towards Saitama.

Each of those tentacles was a crystallisation of miracle and had the firepower equivalent to A rank anti-fortress noble phantasms. The black tentacles could eliminate any ordinary Servants, and while the strongest ones probably could fend off the onslaught, she knew they would face a lot of difficulties as well to do it.

If she wanted to, it was possible for her to win the Holy Grail War all by herself.

But, even for her, it would be an arduous task to deal with seven…well, six really, outstanding Servants when she was merely a human still.

Especially since that King of Mesopotamia and the wielder of the greatest holy sword had been summoned as Servants in this Grail War.

Besides, what she wanted was not to win Holy Grail War. What she wanted was simply…

 **BAM**

"Hueh?" Manaka was brought out of her musing by what seemed to be the sound of a giant cannon.

But there was no cannon.

All that existed was her Servant.

Her Servant, who was supposed to have been eliminated by her tentacles, was standing on the ground, dusting himself off.

"E…" Manaka blankly stared at her Servant with a gaping mouth.

What just happened?

How was he still alive?

And where did her tentacles go? She could no longer feel any of them, even though they were supposed to envelope the entire cavern, the entire Ten no Sakazuki.

As she wondered all those things, the cave, no, the whole mountain began to rumble…and pieces of rocks started falling from the ceiling above.

"Wha-, a cave in? Impossible, the cave shouldn't have had a cave in for another four hundred…years…" Manaka trailed off as she looked above…only to see the night sky. "…"

The cave no longer had any ceilings.

The ceilings…and the tentacles that covered the entire cave…had been obliterated.

Manaka looked at her Servant, who was also staring at her.

He silently stared at her, but the look in his eyes asked the question that was surely running in his mind.

Are you done?

Manaka took a step back.

She unconsciously took a step back.

The way her Servant stared at her, that eyes that he had, it was very familiar to her.

It was the kind of eyes that she saw every time she looked into a mirror.

They were eyes of boredom and…alienation.

Manaka took another step back while her Servant simply stood still.

"What…is this?" Manaka thought. "What is this feeling?" She looked at her hands, drenched in sweat. "This is…am I…afraid? Afraid? Me?" Manaka incredulously asked herself as her steps came to a halt and she stared at her Servant with a defiant look in her eyes.

Manaka and Saitama continued to stare at each other, but then another rumble caused the ground where they were standing to collapse.

"Ah…" Manaka lost her footing. She could feel nothing on her feet; there was nothing to step on. She was too preoccupied with her Servant that she had completely forgotten to use her magecraft to save herself. As she was falling, she briefly wondered why she couldn't foresee any of this, and started to lament her bad luck "It feels like nothing has been going right for me today…Ah, but, this is not bad either. Maybe I am the one who should disappear instead," Manaka thought.

She had given up. Her hands limped on the sides as she discarded any thoughts of survival.

She was tired of life anyway.

She held no love nor wished to live in this boring and predictable world any longer.

However, despite her apathy towards this boring world, she could not stop the smile from gracing her lips.

"It was really short, but it was fun… You have my gratitude…Servant."

Manaka silently thanked her Servant for bringing in something that she knew nothing about.

It should be soon.

Soon she would reach the bottom and die.

And then…she would return to Root.

Manaka smiled. Her heart accepted her fate and she was ready to die.

...

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

"Hmm?"

Why was she still alive?

As she was wondering about it, the soft night wind gently touched her face, causing her eyes to snap open.

"Oh, you're awake? I thought for sure you've passed out from the shock."

"S-Servant!?"

She was being carried up in the air by her Servant under the night sky.

No, no, it wasn't a princess carry.

It wasn't a piggyback either.

He was grabbing the back of her dress and was carrying her with one hand.

She was literally being carried…like how one carried a plastic bag from the grocery store.

Manaka, finally able to comprehend what was happening, began thrashing around "L-let me go!"

"Uh…yeah, once we landed, ok?"

"What do you mean?" Manaka asked. She looked down…and saw Mount Enzo collapsing because its right side had a giant hole gaping open at its base. "T-that's…Servant, did you do that?"

"Yeah," Saitama answered nonchalantly. "The cave exploded just now, so I had to jump a bit high or else you're gonna get hit with flying rubbles."

"Jump?" Manaka repeated. "You jumped?"

Ridiculous.

It's impossible.

They were literally had reached the clouds.

No Servants, no matter how strong they were, had that level of physical ability.

However, as if to deny the impossibility, her Servant simply nodded.

"T-to be able to do such thing…even though you're just a baldy…" Manaka muttered with quivering voice, unable to believe it.

For who knew how many times, Saitama's veins bulged from anger. "Who's a baldy!?"

Manaka ignored Saitama's angry roar of baldness, and asked, "Why did you save me?"

"Huh?"

"What do you want from me? What ulterior motives do you have? Surely you are plotting something if you decided to save someone who was trying to kill you earlier?" Manaka asked.

Saitama stared at her with his usual 'face', and then he said…

"Are you stupid? Isn't it obvious?"

"Ah?"

"You haven't compensated me for my bathroom that you destroyed."

"…"

Manaka's jaw dropped from the answer that was given to her.

"W-what kind of reason is thaaaaaaaaaaaattt!?"

And so…while the girl's scream reverberated throughout Mount Enzo, Saitama was wondering if the supermarket was still open at this hour.

He was getting hungry.

ooo

While the odd pair of Master and Servant was escaping from Mount Enzo, within the chapel of Fuyuki a priest who looked to be in his mid to late twenty was conversing with his master and father.

"Kirei, how are the preparations going?" an elderly priest named Kotomine Risei asked.

"Everything is in place. Assassin is ready for it any time," the younger priest, the priest who had almost lifeless eyes, Kotomine Kirei said.

"Then…the only problem left is Archer… Tokiomi." Risei turned to look at the head of Tohsaka family in the eyes.

With a heavy sigh, Tokiomi said, "That one is indeed troublesome. His ego is so untamed I'm not even sure we can include him for this little act."

Risei contemplated Tokiomi's words, knowing that indeed it would be difficult for the prideful Archer to agree to partake in this act.

"Perhaps it was a mistake to summon him… He is too prideful for his own good," Risei commented with a slight feeling of guilt. It was he who had suggested that they used the ancient snakeskin to summon Archer, but he didn't expect him to be this big of a problem to handle.

"However…there is no doubt that no Servant in this war can stand up against him. In that sense, it is not a mistake to have him," Tokiomi coolly said. "What do you think about all of this, Kirei?"

All eyes fell upon Kirei, and though he put a neutral expression on his face, inwardly he was sighing.

"As long as he is proven to be of use, I do not have anything to say," Kirei flatly said, inciting sighs from Risei and Tokiomi.

"So you think so as well. Hmm?" Risei turned to look at the phone. It was ringing. Risei wondered who would call the chapel at this hour. He was about to take the call when Kirei gestured at him that he would take it instead.

"May I know who's speaking?" Kirei asked the person on the other hand of the phone.

While Kirei was talking on the phone, Risei and Tokiomi moved into the deeper section of the office, not wanting to disturb their conversation.

Risei and Tokiomi were seated on chairs made of mahogany around a rectangular table made of marble. Documents and papers were spread on top of it.

Tokiomi took one of the papers and heaved a heavy sigh.

"Risei, has the Church noticed your involvement?" Tokiomi warily asked.

Risei shook his head. "If they had, they're a fool not to appoint a new supervisor," Risei said. "They surely would never even consider the possibility that a supervisor from the Church and conspiring together with one of the participants in the Holy Grail War."

"Hum…" Tokiomi smirked, feeling slightly amused.

"By the way, Tokiomi, about these command seals…"

As Risei was about to talk about the command seals, Kirei briskly entered the room. He had a look of disbelief on his face for some reason.

"Kirei, what happened? Why didn't you knock first?" Risei asked.

"Mount Enzo has collapsed," Kirei swiftly informed, skipping through any formality with his father and teacher.

"Sorry, what did you say?"

"Supervisors of Mount Enzo were the ones who called. They said Mount Enzo has collapsed just now," Kirei repeated.

Hearing Kirei's words Tokiomi's calm was shattered, and he slammed his hands on the table, glaring furiously at Kirei. "Impossible!" Tokiomi roared. "The foundation of Mount Enzo is one of the most durable in Japan! We've calculated that it won't collapse for another seven hundred years, and you're saying it has collapsed!?" Tokiomi's voice was filled with anger and skepticism, but Kirei simply nodded his head.

"If you do not believe what I have said, sensei, why don't you check it with your familiars? Surely as the head of the Tohsaka family, and one of the founding members, you have several familiars keeping watch on Mount Enzo," Kirei suggested, inwardly mocking his teacher.

"Yes…I'll do that," Tokiomi agreed, and he started to connect with every familiar he had stationed on Mount Enzo.

Risei, who was also unable to believe the information that came from his son's mouth, asked, "Are there any casualties? And what of Ryuudou temple?"

"The destruction doesn't appear to have reached or affected Ryuudou temple and Miyama. As for casualties, there is none," Kirei answered, much to Risei's relief. However, his relief expression instantly turned grim.

"And…what about Ten no Sakazuki? What about the Greater Grail?" Risei asked.

Kirei shook his head. "Unfortunately, I have no information about that. After all…those supervisors were only tasked with keeping their eyes on the well-being of the mountain without ever being informed about what lies under."

Risei clicked his tongue. He felt irritated for not knowing about the condition of the Greater Grail, but then Tokiomi suddenly chimed in.

"There's no need to worry. My familiars have just confirmed that the section of the cavern where the Greater Grail is sleeping is still intact and running. However, they've detected traces of magecraft being used there," Tokiomi stated. "Whoever it was, there's no doubt that's our culprit."

"What should we do, sensei?" Kirei asked.

"It seems…there is a need for a plan to eradicate rats…" Tokiomi said, his eyes were burning with cold fury.

ooo

"Kiritsugu, what's with the scary face? Something's bothering you?" the white-haired homunculus of Einzbern, Irisviel, playfully asked her husband, Emiya Kiritsugu.

The man who had a dishevelled look on his face ignored his wife's playfulness, and instead focused on the matter at hand. "Iri, Mount Enzo collapsed," Kiritsugu calmly stated.

At her husband's words, Irisviel could only blink her eyes with a stupid expression on her face.

"Mount Enzo? You mean that Mount Enzo in Miyama?" Irisviel asked.

"That's right."

"No, that can't be right… After all, Mount Enzo...Mount Enzo is..."

"Just take a look at this."

Kiritsugu showed her a video recording from the surveillance cameras that he had secretly installed on Mount Enzo, knowing that Tohsaka family had a stake in that land. He initially wanted to use whatever knowledge he could gain from it to strengthen their position in the war, but instead this happened.

Irisviel anxiously watched the video recording. As an Einzbern, she knew that underneath Mount Enzo lied the source of Fuyuki's Holy Grail. No, it was more accurate to say it was the true Holy Grail of Fuyuki, the Heaven's Feel. That's why she knew how urgent the situation was if that sacred location was jeopardized in any way.

What she saw was Mount Enzo, well and intact.

Then…something blew the right side of the mountain's base.

Something created a giant hole that then proceeded to cause the entire mountain to crumble.

From the blow, she knew whoever or whatever it was that caused it was inside one of the caverns beneath Mount Enzo.

But what was more frightening was the fact that the force of the blow was so powerful that it completely blew away all the clouds in the vicinity of Mount Enzo.

Irisviel turned to her husband. "Kiritsugu…"

Kiritsugu quietly lighted his cigarette. "Seems like…there's another player in this War that we need to keep our eyes on."

Irisviel nodded, but then the sound of the door opening made them both looked towards the person who had just entered.

"Irisviel, Kiritsugu, when will we commence our first move?"

The one who addressed them both was a young blond-haired girl with her hair tied into a short ponytail and wearing a black business suit.

If they didn't know her, they would have definitely mistaken her for a very effeminate handsome young man instead.

She was Saber, the Servant of Emiya Kiritsugu.

With her piercing, emerald-coloured eyes, Saber's sight fell upon the monitor where a video recording was playing.

"Irisviel, what is that?"

"Ah, Saber, do you want to see it? Just now, Mount Enzo has collapsed, and we were just viewing the cause of it."

"Hum…" Saber walked closer to the monitor.

Her eyes widened at what she saw.

Her eyes saw what her human Masters could not.

"…This is… Kiritsugu, is this the work of enemy's Servant?"

"Quite likely. We can't rule out the possibility of outside party, though," Kiritsugu said, before leaving them and went out with his 'tool' to check on the rest of the surveillance cameras.

"…"

Saber silently stared at Kiritsugu's back as he exited the room before looking back at the screen.

She played the recording once again.

She squinted her eyes, trying to see if her eyes were mistaken.

"No…it really is…"

She confirmed it.

It was really small, and not to mention unbelievably fast.

But it was clearly there. She clearly saw it.

Someone clearly jumped out of the destroyed mountain.

ooo

In the street of the newer district of Fuyuki, Shinto, a pair made up of a thin, weak-looking young man with black hair parted at the middle and a tall muscular man with red hair and beard, wearing a white shirt and jeans that looked ready to burst apart, were walking down the road with paper bags in each hand.

The weak-looking young man was already lamenting his decision to join the Holy Grail War, and now he felt like he was going to cry because of his Servant.

"My…money…"

"Gahahahaha~! Master, don't look so gloomy. Once I've conquered the world, I'll be sure to pay you back a thousand folds," the large man said with a hearty guffaw.

"Why do you want to buy those things anyway? You're a Servant; you have no need to buy clothing since you can just dematerialize," the young man reminded.

In response, the large Servant playfully hit his Master's back.

"Oww!" The young man jumped due to the combination of surprise and pain. "What did you do that for, Rider!?"

"Boy, don't you think it is a King's duty to understand the world?" the Servant, Rider, asked. "If I want to conquer the world properly, I have to understand how the world is. To conquer does not mean to destroy. If I'm careless, my conquest might cause the heart of people to turn against me right. And what's the easiest and fastest way to do it is other than to purchase goods from this era?"

The young man sighed. "You say that, but I bet you just want to collect nice-looking objects…"

Rider laughed once again. "Gahahahahaha~! Master, it seems you really know me well!"

"Hah…" the young man let out a tired sigh again. "Hmm?"

There was someone coming from the opposite direction.

That someone was coming closer, and the moment he was within their sights, the young man could only stare suspiciously at him.

The figure - or perhaps he should say figures were that of a wet bald man and an equally wet young girl.

The bald man was wearing a yellow jumpsuit, with a white cape attached to it, and red pairs of gloves and boots.

The young girl, on the other hand, was wearing an aquamarine dress and white stockings, as well as white panties with blue stripes running horizontally.

The young man averted his face from the young girl's panties as he felt his face heating up.

It was not intentional, mind you.

It was the bald man's fault.

He was carrying the unconscious girl on his shoulder without even bothering to fix her skirt, which had been pulled up slightly.

The young man was suspicious of the bald man.

Why did a pair of a man and a young girl was wet at this time of night?

Why was the girl unconscious?

And what was the man muttering with that completely hopeless and in despair expression on his face?

The young man was staring at him suspiciously, but his Servant, Rider, had a different expression.

His eyes were sparkling like a little child who saw something very precious.

The man was coming closer to the pair, causing his voice to be heard by them.

"No money…how can this be? How am I supposed to buy dinner now? Will I survive the night with an empty stomach? In the first place, where the hell is this anyway…"

Was what the bald man was muttering with a completely miserable voice.

…

…

…

The young man sweatdropped.

The bald man walked past them, and the young man was content to let him go and not getting involved with the bald man's predicament…when his Servant suddenly grabbed the bald man's shoulder.

"Wait! Wiseman of the Mountain!"

The bald man turned around to see the person who was grabbing his shoulder.

The large Servant was smiling happily as he suddenly said, "Wiseman of the Mountain! Join my army! Together we will conquer the world!"

The young man rubbed his face tiredly. Fixing this mess would be a pain.

The bald man, however, lifelessly responded with…

"What? Another chuunibyou? Am I surrounded with no one but chuunibyou?"

"Chuunibyou? I have no clue what you're saying, but more importantly, join my army! Wiseman of the Mountain!" Rider repeated, patting the bald man's shoulder.

"…Umm…I think you're mistaking me for someone else. I'm no wiseman," the bald man said.

"Gahahahahaha~! No need to be humble! The moment I saw that head of yours, I knew that you are a Wiseman of the Mountain!" Rider proclaimed.

"Huh?"

"Wait, Rider, what are you talking about? Wiseman of the Mountain?" the young man asked, confused with the terminology that his Servant had been throwing out. Rider let go of the bald man and turned towards his Master.

"The Wiseman of the Mountain was a group of people that's made up of the most brilliant of minds and the greatest sorcerers who decided to reside at the base of Mount Olympus and directly served the god, Zeus," Rider began. "They played a large part in helping me succeeded in my conquest, and though they were nothing but selfish individuals, once they decided to band together under one cause victory was nothing but ensured."

"So, that's why they're called Wiseman of the Mountain and why you wanted him to join your army?" the young man asked. "But wait, how did you know he is one of them?"

"Because of his bald head, of course," Rider casually answered, not realizing that the bald man's eyes had been covered with shade because of his words. "Look at that bald head. That smooth, slick bald head that could reflect even the faint light of the moon shining in the sky is all the proof I need to know that he's indeed one of the Wiseman of the Mountain."

"W-what's being bald has anything to do with being a wiseman?" the young man asked, slightly flabbergasted.

"To receive the blessing of Zeus, one needs to bravely and without faltering receive it through his lightning. Boy, do you know what's the best conductor for lightning is?" Rider asked.

"A metal rod?"

"Wrong!" Rider yelled with a booming voice. "It's bald heads of the highest purity! Those slick skins, that head that has become a natural mirror of the highest grade, lightning is naturally attracted to it! That's why all the Wiseman had shaved their heads clean to show they were prepared to receive Zeus' blessings!"

"I-I see?"

"Even so…I've never seen one that is of such high purity. Wiseman, are you perhaps someone important?" Rider turned around to address the bald man, but the bald man was already gone. "Where did he go?" Rider asked, slightly surprised because he didn't notice the bald man's movements.

"Eh? He disappeared?" the young man was surprised as well.

"Hum, no matter," Rider smiled. "As long as he's alive, it's inevitable that we shall meet again. Gahahahahahahaha~!"

The young man could only facepalm watching his Servant laughter's resonated throughout the night sky.

ooo

"Damn it. The hell is his problem, calling someone a Wiseman of the Mountain?" Saitama complained.

He was lying on a grass on a riverbank, and besides him, the young girl was sleeping peacefully.

It was a really awful day.

On top of not having any money, he had no freaking clue where he was at the moment.

The landscapes looked completely different than A-City, so he, at least, knew he's not in A-City.

But even then he could not see the other cities when he was airborne.

"Am I in a different world?" Saitama muttered. "Nah, it can't be."

Saitama looked at the young girl.

His imaginations had been really running wild because of this chuunibyou.

It would've been better just to leave her.

Even so, he was not a heartless person who would leave a young girl sleeping so vulnerably in the open like this.

And if he brought her to the police…who knew what setting she would come up with next time.

So he could only sit and watch the stars while waiting for the girl to wake up.

…

…

…

…

"Man…those stars look like udon…" Saitama muttered with drools overflowing from his mouth. "Crap…the hunger's really gotten to me… Is it because I've just taken a big dump that I'm this hungry?" Saitama wondered.

"Hnn…"

A small groan caught Saitama's attention.

Saitama looked at the young girl, and indeed, she was regaining her consciousness.

"Uuu…where…?" the girl groggily asked.

"Oh, we're by the river," Saitama replied.

Hearing his voice, the girl's eyes instantly snapped open. She stood up, and glared at Saitama.

"You!" Manaka pointed a finger at Saitama. She was about to say what was in her mind, but seeing Saitama picking his nose without a single care of the world made her dropped her hand and gave up.

Somehow…she felt stupid for being angry.

Manaka sighed, but what Saitama said next caused her to sigh even deeper.

"Oi, little girl, can I borrow a bit of money? Just a bit. I just want to buy a box bento from a super," Saitama begged, bowing his head deep into the ground.

Manaka felt tired all of the sudden, but hearing the word, 'money,' Manaka realized she was missing a certain item that she had with her earlier.

"Where's my bag?" she asked.

Saitama looked up, scratch his bald head, and then brought his hand together and said, "Oh, that? It's probably under the rubbles now."

Hearing that, Manaka began to tremble. "All my possessions are in that bag… Of course…money as well."

Saitama face turned pale. "…You serious?"

"Yes."

Saitama dropped to the ground; all colours disappeared from his body.

Basically, he's only white and black right now.

"How are we supposed to eat now?"

"That wouldn't be a problem," Manaka said.

Saitama looked at her with a neutral expression. "What do you mean? How is it not a problem?" Saitama asked. Then, a strange thought entered his mind, and he began sweating. "You...are not suggesting that we should do dine-and-dash, are you?"

"Dine-and-dash? Who would do something so barbaric like that?" Manaka asked.

"…"

Saitama could feel her question piercing all over his body.

"Anyway, just follow me, Servant. We're going to the nearest family restaurant," Manaka said, gesturing at Saitama to follow her. Saitama suspiciously followed her, still thinking that they would do a dine-and-dash, when Manaka suddenly asked, "By the way, why am I wet?"

"Ah, that. I jumped too far, and we ended up falling in the middle of the ocean," Saitama casually said.

Manaka, on the other hand, could only splutter at his casual admittance.

"W-wait, then it wasn't a dream? I thought it was surely a dream. I mean, we fell in the Pacific! Do you know how far it was to reach from Fuyuki's harbour?" Manaka exclaimed.

"Pacific?" Saitama repeated, not recognizing the name. "Whatever. Are we gonna go to that family restaurant or not? I'm hungry."

"Hah…" Manaka sighed. Manaka then realized she didn't know how they reached Fuyuki back in such a short time. "How did we return so fast, Servant? Did you use some sort of Noble Phantasm that has teleportation ability?"

"Noble Phantasm? Teleportation? No, I ran."

"R-ran?"

"Yeah, I ran."

"…"

Manaka could only stare silently at her Servant until they finally reached the first 24-hour family restaurant that they encountered.

ooo

Deep within the manor of Matou family, the last founding families of Fuyuki's Holy Grail War, in a certain room that was filled with nasty and putrid magical worms, a single creature stood, watching the worms eating their way into the body of a young girl that was entrusted to him from Tohsaka family.

That creature looked like a very old man who was barely able to keep himself standing if it wasn't for his cane.

The creature was short, probably only a head taller than an average grown up man's hip.

It had a bald head, and its skin was riddled with wrinkles, a testament of its old age.

The old man surely looked like any other elderly people that could be found anywhere.

However, that's only if we talked about appearance.

Anything other than that was completely different.

The inside was a completely different matter altogether.

That's why this old man could not be called a human, not anymore.

And this old man who was no longer a human cackled from amusement, for someone had trespassed into his precious place beneath Mount Enzo.

"It seems…there still exists someone who is daring and foolish enough to step their feet on my sanctuary."

The old man chuckled. The chuckle that came from that husk-like mouth was so dark that any normal humans would surely be unnerved by it.

"Kariya…"

By his call, a white-haired man with sickly appearance came out of the shadows.

"What do you want?"

"Find whoever it is that dare trespass into my domain and kill them. I do not want any outside factors to mess with my plans."

Kariya simply nodded, knowing that he had no choice either way.

Sensing Kariya's presence had disappeared from the chamber full of worms; the old man returned his attention to the young girl.

"Now…Sakura…accept them into your body. Become their host."

The little girl whose eyes looked more like that of a corpse than a living person lifelessly muttered…

"…Yes….."

ooo

"So…how are we going to pay for all of these?" Saitama asked, sweating as he looked upon the foods that had been spread on the table.

"Don't worry, don't worry," Manaka waved her hand nonchalantly.

To better understand why Saitama had cold sweat, here was the list of the foods and drinks that they had ordered:

 **Hamburg Curry x2**

 **Fried Rice x 2**

 **Sirloin Steak x 2**

 **French Fries x 2**

 **Calamari (10 Pieces) x 3**

 **Sukiyaki x 2**

 **Sushi Pack (6 pieces) x 4**

 **Kara-age Udon x 2**

 **Okonomiyaki x 2**

 **Takoyaki (4 pieces) x 6**

 **Chicken Katsu Curry x 2**

 **Kitsune Ramen x 2**

 **Beef Curry x 2**

 **Omelette Rice x 2**

 **Toast Bread x 2**

 **Dinner Set x 2**

 **Chicken Breast x 2**

 **European Style Food Set 1 x 2**

 **European Style Food set 2 x 2**

 **Ice Tea x 2**

Vanilla-with-Choco chips toppings with Chocolate Almonds-with-Tiramisu toppings with Peppermint-with-Stracciatella Gelato toppings with Neapolitan-with-Strawberry fruit topping Ice Cream x 1

The only thing that Saitama could think of when the foods were ordered was…

"Holy shit…"

Which basically summarize the thoughts and feelings of the restaurant employees.

Even the other customers were looking at them with wide eyes when their order had arrived.

Luckily, they were seating in a corner near the windows, but due to their attires (well, mostly because of Saitama's really) and the number of foods on their table, all eyes in the restaurant gave them quick glances every now and then.

"Mommy, that person's wearing a cape. Is he a superhero?" asked a young boy.

"Hush, don't look at him. He's just a weirdo," the mother said, and then she hurriedly took the boy out of the restaurant.

Manaka looked at Saitama, amused at the reception that her Servant received.

"I'm glad I wasn't the only one who thinks of you as a weirdo in that outfit," Manaka mocked, snickering.

"…"

Saitama had nothing to say.

After all, he also used to think that he looked like a weirdo when he first tried this outfit.

"What's wrong? Did I hit a bad chord?" Manaka asked, giggling.

"Nah, I'm just thinking...you can talk like a normal person, so what's the point of earlier role playing?" Saitama asked.

Manaka slumped on the table. "You still think I'm role-playing?" Manaka asked.

"You're not?" Saitama's reply made her slump even harder.

"I am a magus. A practitioner of magecraft," Manaka said, straighten her back.

"Magus? Sound like one of the support jobs that King like to use in his game," Saitama said.

"As a Servant, you should have known what a magus is! Root should have given you the knowledge of the current world!" Manaka pointed out.

…

…

…

Saitama simply picked his ear.

"Like I said, I'm no servant. I'm a hero."

"It's exactly because you're a hero that you're a Servant. Servants are dead heroes who have accomplished feats that made them famous in the eyes of humans, and this caused them to ascend as Heroic Spirits and have their information stored in Root," Manaka said. "I don't know what manner of feats you have accomplished, but surely it's enough to warrant you a position as a Heroic Spirit."

Saitama could only scratch his head, before realizing something important. "Wait a minute. You said this…'Servants' thing are ghosts of dead heroes, right?"

Manaka raised her eyebrow at the question. "Indeed. And?"

"Then, I'm no Servant. I'm still alive, after all," Saitama said.

"Hueh?"

"I was just finished doing my thing in the bathroom when suddenly you appeared there," Saitama explained. "By the way, when are you gonna pay me back for my bathroom?"

Ignoring Saitama's question, Manaka slammed her hands on the table. "There's no way that can...be true…" Manaka trailed off, as the look in Saitama's eyes basically told her that he wasn't lying.

Manaka held her chin with her right hand.

So her Servant summoning was a failure, after all?

Instead of summoning a Heroic Spirit, she had summoned a living person.

But, for such thing to happen…there had to be some catalyst or medium that brought him to her.

However…

Manaka looked at her left hand.

There was a red, circular seal with a smaller circle and a triangle in the middle inscribed on her hand.

"Is this not a command seal, but an ordinary contract seal?" Manaka thought.

If it was a contract seal, then technically speaking this person in front of her was not summoned as a Servant but instead something like a familiar.

Which means…this person did not need her to supply him with mana.

If that were the case, then she should be able to summon Angra Mainyu without any problems.

But…the issue was…

"Mount Enzo…with the state it's in, there's no way I can reach Ten no Sakazuki. Not to mention, the Tohsaka and the Matou must have noticed my intrusion as well…" Manaka bitterly thought.

Without the support from the Greater Grail, she would not have enough power to bring down Angra Mainyu into Gaia.

Then…that left her with only one choice.

"Hey…Servant…no, I should probably call you Saitama, shouldn't I?" Manaka corrected herself. "Can you tell me what you were doing before we met?"

Scratching his bald head, Saitama wasn't sure what's the point of the questions was, but he answered anyway. "I told you I was taking a dump," Saitama said again, much to Manaka's frustration. "Ah, but before that, I met a really nice old man who gave me this cloth to wipe my bottom. It was top notch. I don't feel itchy down there," Saitama explained, smiling in bliss.

With a flat look in her eyes, Manaka could only say, "Too much information."

"Don't trust me? Touch it for yourself," Saitama said, pulling out a red fabric from his costume. "Ah, don't worry, I ripped off the part that I used to wipe my bottom. It's clean, I swear," Saitama said, trying to convince her.

His words didn't reach her, however.

That was because her eyes and mind were glued to that red fabric.

"You…where did you get that?" Manaka slowly asked with a very low voice.

"I told you, right? A kind old man gave it to me."

"That's not something that an ordinary old man would have!"

She knew what that red fabric was.

That was a part of a ceremonial robe.

More precisely, it was a part of a ceremonial robe that was used in ritual to worship Angra Mainyu.

That piece of fabric had been so tainted with blood and evil that just being closed with it would get people cursed by evil.

And this person had used it to wipe his bottom?

Was he so dense and stupid that he didn't feel the evil aura coming from it?

But, what concerned her was the identity of the old man who gave it to him.

That fabric was without a doubt the object that screwed up her summoning.

Since the time he used the red fabric to wipe his bottom and time of her summoning overlapped, the summoning circle must have mistaken him for Angra Mainyu.

It couldn't be coincidence.

Whoever it was that gave him the red fabric must have known that she had intended to summon the true Angra Mainyu as a Servant.

"Saitama, can you describe to me how that old man look?" Manaka requested.

"Sure. Let's see…he wears purple and black robe…has a black wooden cane in one hand…black pants and…ah," Saitama suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong? Come on, continue."

"He has this mischievous look on his face, and he looks old but not old at the same time," Saitama added. "His eyes are red, though. I wonder if he's wearing contact lenses…"

Manaka reached out to Root to try to find someone that matched that description who possessed the red fabric.

The result that came out made her gritted her teeth in sheer anger.

"Second… Kaleidoscope… Kischur Zelretch…Schweinorg!" Manaka cursed the name under her breath. "So it was his doing... But, why? What would he gain from this? He knew about me, but never acted all this time. Yet now he decided to? Why?" Manaka frantically thought.

However, if the Second was involved, then that meant…

"It wasn't a mistake. Even though he's still alive, he really has been summoned as a Servant," Manaka thought, staring at Saitama, who was already chomping down on the food. "And that's probably why his class is listed as inapplicable…" Manaka concluded. With a heavy sigh, she muttered, "So you're a Servant, after all…"

"Howhat hit hu bay (tl: what did you say)?" Saitama asked with a mouth full of chicken meat.

Manaka sighed again.

"So be it," Manaka thought. "If the Second is trying to interfere with my plans using this man, then I just have to use him for my own end."

A grin slowly formed on her face.

That's it.

She would use him to obtain the lesser Grail and the fake Angra Mainyu.

She would then use the fake Angra Mainyu as a vessel to bind the true god of darkness.

As for her Servant, she could throw him into the Grail once she's done with him.

She no longer had the book used to display the Servants' status, but judging from his strength, this man would definitely be a very useful pawn.

She did not know how powerful he was compared to other Servants of this Grail War, but at least, she knew she could use him as a shield to protect herself.

And if he refused…she could just use the command seals to make him obey her.

"Hey…Servant…"

"Hoh?"

"I finally understand your situation. You might not believe it, but this world is not your original world," Manaka said, emphasizing the last part of her sentence.

Contrary to her expectations, Saitama actually looked like he bought her words.

He quickly slurped down the udon and, with a pale expression, said, "Wait, for real? I jokingly thought that I'm in a different world, but that's really what's happening?"

"You trust me?" Manaka asked. She was truly surprised. Considering the fact that he had treated her actions as if she was role-playing earlier, she honestly thought he would think of this as simply another delusion of hers.

"Are you lying?" Saitama asked.

"…" Faced with his questioning gaze, Manaka silently shook her head.

"…Then I have no reason not to trust you," Saitama said.

"But you didn't trust my claim of being a magus."

"I didn't say I don't trust you. You just haven't shown me anything to prove it."

"What about the things that I did to you back in the cave?" Manaka reminded.

"Oh, those? Anyone can fire energy beams these days. Besides, since when energy beams are magic?" Saitama asked. "Isn't magic supposed to be making birds appeared from your sleeves or something like that?"

"You call my magecraft energy beams? You're really… Hah…" Manaka sighed tiredly. "Very well, then how about this?"

Manaka pointed her finger at the car park just outside the window. Then, from the tip of her hand, a seven-coloured light ball the size of a golf ball formed.

"Okay, look at this closely."

The light ball then erupted into dozens of small projectiles, which proceeded to wreck the entire car park, destroying all the cars parked and blasting the windows.

The customers and employees were screaming. They either ducked under the tables to avoid the blast or were blown down by the blast of the explosions.

Meanwhile, the culprit and her Servant were having different reactions.

The culprit was smiling smugly, proudly puffing her sad and almost non-existent chest.

Her Servant…was simply staring at her.

He was just staring, but then…

"Stop it."

He lightly smacked her head.

"Hau!?"

Manaka grabbed her head, holding back tears that had swelled in her eyes.

"Wha-what did you do that for!?" Manaka yelled at Saitama.

"I should be the one asking that," Saitama replied. "What do you think you're doing, causing problems here? If you want to blow something up, do it somewhere in the mountain or in the forest."

"No one's die, so what's the problem?" Manaka nonchalantly asked.

Saitama looked at the people in the restaurant. She was right. No one died, only lightly injured. "…You're right. But…" Saitama turned to look at the devastation scene outside, and he started sweating. "Dude, how the hell are you gonna pay for all those cars?"

"Don't worry, don't worry," Manaka waved off his concern. "The important thing is you now believe me when I said I use magecraft, right?"

"You say that, but you never once tell me what a magecraft and a Magus are," Saitama said.

Manaka almost fell to the ground.

"Aah! You stupid good-for-nothing! Listen carefully, magecraft and Magus are…"

 **~ 20 Minutes Later ~**

"…and that's the gist of it. Do you understand?" Manaka asked.

"Yes…but, just in case, can you repeat that again? I wasn't listening for the most part," Saitama admitted, further stressing Manaka.

"Aaaaaaaaaah! You, you, you stupid, hopeless, good-for-nothing baldy! Listen carefully this time! Magecraft and Magus are…

 **~ Another 20 Minutes Later ~**

"…and that's why I'm classified as a magus! DO. YOU. GET. IT?" Manaka slowly asked with a smile on her face. If he said no, she felt she's going to explode from anger.

….

…

….

"…Yeah?" was the only thing that Saitama said.

Instantly, Manaka's face was in front of Saitama's. "DO. YOU. GET. IT?" she repeated with a low-pitched voice.

"…Sure, I get it," Saitama replied. "So, basically, you magi wish to reach this...uh…apple record and that's why you are participating in this Holy Grail War using Heroic Spirits as Servants."

"It's AKASHIC Record, and yes, that's the dream of all magi. That's why they're desperate to win, because the winner will be granted anything they wanted by the wish-granting device," Manaka said.

"Heh… So the magi's dream is that cheap, huh?" Saitama instantly responded.

"Huh?"

"You have arms and legs, why don't you use those to reach this whatever-record? To rely on some wish-granting object to fulfill your dream? What a boring dream," Saitama said.

"…"

Manaka could not say a word.

After all, she had the same opinion.

That the magi's dream was boring and worthless.

Regaining her composure, Manaka let out fake coughs. "A-anyway, of course, you can also wish for something else."

"Something else? Like what?" Saitama asked.

Manaka shrugged, tilting her head slightly. "I don't know. What's the thing that you want the most?"

…

…

…

Realization that came from the revelation from the Goddess' mouth in front of him made Saitama lost his composure.

With his body shaking, he opened his mouth.

"So you're saying…"

"Yes."

"Is it really possible?"

"Yes."

"You sure about it?"

"Yes! What is it that you want anyway!?" Manaka yelled, losing her patience with his constant pestering.

"Can it really turns...every day into a discount day?"

"…What?"

"Discount day. If possible, make it 70% discount at the super every day," Saitama said with an overly dramatic face.

"…"

"Do you know how cheap eggs and meats are on those days? If I can turn every day into discount day, I wouldn't have to worry about my financial anymore!" Saitama told her with a dead serious expression on his face.

"...Your wish…is even cheaper than those of us, magi, you realize that, right?" Manaka asked. By now, she was literally looking down at him for his dignity as a man had just evaporated in her eyes.

"…"

"Either way, you have to win the Holy Grail. It's your only chance of going back to your world," Manaka said.

"I see… So if I want to go home, the only way is to win and make a wish, is that it?" Saitama asked.

"Yes. And the only way to participate is if you're either a Master or a Servant," Manaka added.

"Eh, does that mean…" Saitama looked at Manaka and saw her grinning.

"I'm a Master…and I've 'accidentally' summoned you as my Servant. What a pleasant 'coincidence', no?" Manaka said, revealing her command seals to Saitama.

"…So, you're my Master?"

"Yes."

"You won't make me do a turn three times and bark, right?"

"Only if you're being naughty."

"Can I ask for a change?"

"No."

"Is this really going to work?"

"You seem to have little confidence in me…" Manaka said with a sad face.

"Well, you're a magical girl, after all. You're not going to shoot rainbows while I'm fighting, are you?" Saitama asked with a worry-filled face.

A cross-popping vein appeared on Manaka's head. "I'll shoot rainbow to your bald head if I need to," Manaka sweetly said. The way she said it was anything but, though. "By the way, since your Servant class is listed as 'inapplicable,' which class do you want to be?"

"Beats me. Is it really that important? How do we decide the class of a Servant anyway?" Saitama asked.

"It usually depends on the characteristics of the…Servant…" Manaka trailed off.

"Wait, characteristics? Doesn't that mean I'm gonna end up being called…" Saitama stopped himself. Manaka was staring at a certain part of him. More precisely, she was staring at his head. It was such an intense stare that she might as well be a falcon that was observing its prey. "Oi, why are you looking at my head like that?"

"That's it! I've decided!"

"What?"

"I've decided on your class on this Holy Grail War!" Manaka proudly declared.

Saitama flatly looked at her. "I feel like I know where this is going."

Ignoring his accusing stare, Manaka pointed at Saitama's head. "Since your only defining characteristic is your bald head, from now on you are…SERVANT BALDY!" Manaka declared.

….

…

…

…

…

…

…

"Yeah? Fuck no," Saitama instantly rejected with veins almost bursting from irritation.

"Now that it's been decided, let's eat!" Manaka happily sang.

"Oi! Listen to people when they're talking!" Saitama roared.

 **~ 30 Minutes Later ~**

"A…ahh….ah…" Saitama was lying on the floor, almost unconscious. His mouth was stuffed with foods, and his belly had inflated from overeating.

On the other hand…

"Mmmm~, this dessert is just superb~," Manaka sang as she happily chomped on another mouthful of pie.

The foods on the table had been wiped clean, wiped…clean, by the black hole that was Sajyou Manaka.

Not only she ate more than 90% of the foods, she even took Saitama's portion when he had given up in trying to finish it.

And she was still ordering more.

"Baldy, you're not going to try this?"

"Who do you call baldy!?" Saitama roared, before he immediately covered his mouth.

He almost threw up.

"Sorry, sorry~, I mean, Saitama," Manaka giggled.

"Hey…how are we gonna pay for all of these?" Saitama asked.

"I said you don't have to worry, right? Just look at all the people in this restaurant~," Manaka said, pointing at other customers and employees.

"…?"

"Don't you find it…strange that they're never angry nor report us for all the ruckus and destruction that we've caused?" Manaka asked, snickering slightly.

"…They're used to it?" Saitama asked.

"Wrong~, I've hypnotized them~," Manaka revealed. "Right now, they are moving the way I want them to move, act the way I want them to act. Of course, they will return to normal once we leave…which is something that I will do now~. The other Masters surely have realized my earlier fiasco. It's a no-no if we lose our element of surprise," Manaka said, standing up and walking to the door. "Saitama, you're coming?"

Saitama, despite feeling like he would throw up if he moved even a step, followed her outside. But, once outside, a certain thought popped up in his mind.

"Wait, how is this any different than a dine-and-dash? We basically don't pay for our food!" Saitama pointed out.

"I-its different! I don't use brute force!" Manaka said, flustering.

"Controlling people's mind is not brutish? I didn't know that…" Saitama thought.

He looked at the young girl who claimed to be his Master in the Grail War, and for some reason he had a…bad feeling about it, like he would miss a very special bargain on eggs and milk in the supermarket.

ooo

 **End of Chapter 2.**

ooo

Meanwhile in A-City, a blonde-haired cyborg was making his way to a precious person's place.

To this handsome cyborg, that person was a person worth following and dedicating his life to.

That person, after all, was his 'sensei', the person who had constantly guided him since the moment of their encounter.

Today, too, the cyborg, Genos was making his way to Saitama's place.

He had not been able to move to Saitama's place because of some issues, but once it had been dealt with, he should be able to live with him again.

Knocking on the door, Genos said, "Sensei, it's Genos."

No response.

"Sensei, it's Genos. May I come in?"

Again, no response.

Feeling suspicious, Genos used his thermal sensor to analyse for any signs of life. But the moment he noticed that Saitama was not home and that there was a giant hole in the room, he kicked the door open,

"This is!"

Saitama's room was a mess.

It's like there was a typhoon happening in the room.

And…

"Saitama sensei is not here…and where did the bathroom go?" Genos asked, noticing the bathroom had disappeared, leaving only a hole in the room.

He looked around, trying to find some clues as to who or what had dared to do this to Saitama's room when he stepped on something.

"Huh? What's with this red cloth?" Genos wondered aloud as he picked a piece of red cloth from the floor.

"Is this sensei's?" Genos thought, looking at the room once again without realizing the faint purple glow from the cloth.


	4. Chapter 3

**All credits go to the author, Arcreed.**

 **Disclaimers: I do not own the characters or franchises in this story.**

 **ooo**

Chapter 3

 **Shine Under the Sun! Servant Baldy!**

ooo

Saitama was fidgeting.

He was fidgeting, couldn't stop biting his nails, and had frequent spasms.

"Will you calm down already?"

The young girl in the aquamarine dress, Sajyou Manaka, scolded him.

"How could I calm down?" Saitama pointed at the place where they were staying. "When you told me you've got a place reserved, I didn't think it would be a super deluxe villa…" Saitama said. "What's with this pointlessly huge villa? Isn't it too big for two people?"

Indeed, the place where they were staying was huge.

It was a three-story villa located on a hill of Fuyuki.

Its quality was such that there was a pool running from inside the building to the extravagant garden outside.

Not to mention, the kitchen, which was as large as his new house in the Association HQ.

And the four bathrooms, which were so pointlessly spacious and had glimmering exquisite designs that his eyes were almost blinded by the shines and sparkles, made him felt unnaturally uncomfortable.

"Oi, what's with the toilets here?" Saitama questioned while pointing his finger at a single toilet…in the middle of a 4x4 meter room.

"Ah, that? Apparently the owner wants to instil the feelings of…relaxation and peace whenever the guests are doing their things…"

"Relaxation and peace? In the toilet?" Saitama paled. "You sure this place is alright? There are no hidden cameras that'll record us taking a dump or something like that, right?"

Manaka shook her head. "Don't worry, I've done a little bit of…'questioning' before deciding to rent the place. Besides…" Manaka stared at Saitama with a baleful gaze. "There's nothing in this world that I do not know…except anything related to you, that is~."

"Ok…"

"I was initially planning to stay in Fuyuki's Hyatt hotel since it's a pain to get out to buy foods…unfortunately, that El-Melloi decided to make that building his nest."

"El-Mellow?"

"Not Mellow, Melloi," Manaka corrected.

"Sounds like a brand of cake that'd you find in a shop on a corner of a dark alley…" Saitama said. "But, when you say hotel, it's just a run down inn, right? Not an actual hotel?"

"It's a five-star hotel," Manaka informed.

"F-Five-star!?" Saitama yelled. His jaw almost dropped. "W-wait. By five-star, you mean five-star? The expensive type of hotel that provides the best food and laundry services?"

"…That's how you assess the quality of a hotel?" Manaka incredulously asked. "But, judging from your reaction…are you never stay in one?" Manaka asked. Saitama's nod of confirmation made her giggle. "Oh~, what's wrong? The poor man never taste riches before? Or perhaps you spent your fortune polishing that head of yours?" Manaka cheerfully mocked.

Saitama, instead of getting angry at the blatant insult to his head, was starting to get concerned about another matter entirely.

"Hey, you've got no money, right?" Saitama asked.

Manaka raised her brow. "What's with the obvious question?"

"How are we paying this villa, then?" Saitama asked.

Manaka sighed. "Should I repeat what I've said in the restaurant?"

"You hypnotized them too?" Saitama questioned, which Manaka replied with a nod while playing with her hair. "And we're not going to pay a cent?" Manaka nodded again. "This is totally a crime, you know?"

"No, it's not," Manaka quickly replied. "A crime is only a crime when it is discovered and if the act itself is perceived as harmful to the interest of the public. As long as it isn't, over time, most people would naturally just treat it as 'unfortunate occurrence' and forget about it. Do you know how many crimes went unnoticed and then forgotten by the public?" Manaka expected Saitama to say something or even show some reactions, but the bald man's expression remained neutral as if he did not care about stuff like numbers.

Manaka sighed, realizing that he was not interested in her question. She continued anyway. "Too many to count. Adultery, theft, scam, murder, war crime, rape, ignorance, and the list go on… It's not that people did not see them, it's more of a case where people actively try not to see them to maintain their 'normal and peaceful' lives," Manaka said.

The way she spoke made it almost as if she was spitting out those words with disdain.

Manaka began to dance playfully around the large living room while telling Saitama, "Something like this is totally fine~. It's not like we're harming or killing someone to get it."

Saitama's response was simply to pick his nose. "Yeah, but in the end, it's still a crime. Especially something like controlling people's minds…if you're a villain, I would've hit you by now."

"So, you'd rather sleep outside on cardboard under a bridge?" Manaka asked.

"…Let's stay here, it's free," Saitama instantly responded.

Manaka sweatdropped.

"Your sense of justice is very petty and cheap; you do know that, right?" Manaka asked with a neutral expression. "Oh well…Servant, I'll be taking a bath and then heading to bed immediately. I suggest you do the same since tomorrow we will be out early to do some scouting," Manaka said as she walked toward one of the bathrooms.

"No, I can't go with you," Saitama bluntly rejected.

Manaka's feet almost slipped because of his refusal." Wh-why? What is more important than going out with me?" Manaka asked. Then, she realized the implications of what she had just said to him, and as a result, her cheeks started to turn a shade of red.

Saitama, paying no attention to her embarrassment, pulled out a piece of paper from under his hero outfit.

It was not just a paper, however.

It was a department store pamphlet.

"This," Saitama pointed his finger at the brochure. Then, with a dead serious face and voice, he said to her, "Tomorrow…there's a 60% discount on all men clothes, shirts, and pants… It's a great time to get new clothes!" Saitama shouted.

…

…

…

"...That is why?" Manaka incredulously asked. She had thought that he had an excellent reason for refusing her, but no, she was wrong. "You…you idiot goblin of a servant…selfish octopus…exhibitionist of a monk," Manaka snarled, gritting her teeth and trying to calm her anger. Saitama himself had a 'waaah…I don't want to hear any more' look plastered all over his face.

Then, a light bulb shone in her head.

Manaka gleefully laughed.

She was laughing at him.

Saitama, who was watching her laughing like a maniac, silently walked to her.

He put his hands on her shoulders, which stopped her from continuing her laughter, and sympathetically he said…

"Hey, let's have a doctor check your brain, alright?"

The next second, Manaka jabbed her fingers into his eyes.

At least, that's what would happen if the target were someone else.

Saitama easily saw her fingers' movement and moved his head to the side.

"Oi, that's dangerous, you know?" Saitama protested.

"So? You weren't hit, so it's not a problem," Manaka replied without any care.

"…Does it actually work like that?" Saitama asked with a raised brow.

"For your information, I was laughing at your idiocy," Manaka mocked. "How would you buy them? Those discounted clothes, I mean?"

"Of course with mo…" Saitama trailed off. "…Mo…" He tried saying the word but failed. "…Mo…." It was as if something was blocking the word.

Saitama fell to the floor.

Sweat began to pour from every fiber of his being.

"I HAVE NO MONEY!" Saitama screamed. Dread filled his voice as his eyes started to wonder around until it met Manaka's.

"Finally understand your circumsta-."

"HOW DO I BUY FOOD TOMORROW!?" Saitama screamed.

"Wha-, Servant, liste-."

"AND WHAT ABOUT THE BARGAIN!? DO I HAVE TO FORGET ABOUT ALL THOSE BEAUTIFUL BARGAINS WHERE THE PRICES HAVE BEEN HALVED!?" Saitama screamed to the Heaven while holding his bald head in frustration.

"…"

She had enough.

Manaka had enough with this idiot baldy.

This kind of idiot would continue to lament their circumstances until…well until they decided to stop.

However, she had no time to listen to his cry.

The large bathtub filled with warm water, complete with body-relaxing fragrance oils, was waiting for her, after all.

Taking a deep breath, Manaka cocked her head backward and opened her mouth really wide.

"LISTEN TO ME, YOU BLOCKHEAD BALDY!"

She screamed at him with a voice that more resemble that of thunder than a human.

"…" Saitama instantly stopped.

The girl with a voice equal to that of thunder was panting.

With all the things that happened today, dealing with this baldy had taken its toll on her both physically and mentally.

"Tomorrow…we'll go to the bank to get money. After that, we will do some scouting on other Masters and Servants. Then, after that, I'll give you money so you can buy those clothes of yours. Do we have a deal?" Manaka asked.

Saitama could only nod his head obediently while saying, "Yeah."

"Good, now I will hea-."

"Wait. Hold on a second. Get money from the bank? Since when banks serve kids as customers?" Saitama asked, frustrating Manaka even further than before.

"I'm not a kid! I'm in my second year of high school!" Manaka revealed much to Saitama's disbelief.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"But…" Saitama appraised Manaka's body; confusion was all around his face. A bright light then shone in his head, enlightening him about the peril that his mind was suffering. "…Oh, I get it," Saitama said after his divine mind pieced two and two together.

"Get what?"

"Sorry, my bad, I didn't realize high school girls these days stopped growing after reaching middle school," Saitama said.

He was smiling.

Why wouldn't he?

After all, he had just solved a mystery that was Sajyou Manaka's physique.

The girl in question, however, only pointed a finger at him, and shot a large Gandr straight towards his face.

"I'm still growing!" Manaka yelled. Her face flushed with both anger and embarrassment.

Such impudence indeed that the Baldy had said.

ooo

Manaka was fuming.

After the fiasco with the Baldy, she immediately threw herself into the warm tub.

She felt dirt and dust that had laced onto her (self-proclaimed) pristine skin being washed by the magnificent water.

Even so, it could not wash her annoyance towards her Servant.

"Who does he think he is…calling me a middle-schooler," Manaka bitterly muttered. "Just look, in another year or two, my body will grow to become sexy and alluring just like Mata Hari," Manaka declared, making it a goal to shame her Servant for calling her body a sad, sorry excuse for a woman.

Of course, he didn't say any of that and it was simply the case of Manaka exaggerating the meaning behind his words.

"That baldy…that stupid baldy…" Manaka cursed Saitama under her breath.

Her anger didn't last long, however.

Manaka let out a tired sigh and felt her anger was somewhat misplaced.

In the first place, today was the first time she ever felt being genuinely angry with someone.

At most, she usually just felt slight irritation and frustration.

But even then, those feelings would go away immediately.

After all, she would immediately get the answers as to why she was having those feelings.

Her mind would then rationalize with those answers and calm her emotions.

And it would then lead to that unbearable boredom once again.

"I know that I know not nothing…for to know nothing is the knowledge that is forever forbidden to be in my hands," Manaka solemnly muttered.

What Manaka had muttered was a direct inversion to Socratic paradox. For her, there was no such thing as 'I know that I know nothing'. She had been connected to the greatest source of knowledge, and whether she wanted it or not, knowledge automatically flooded into her brain.

That was why she knew not nothing.

For nothing was a forbidden fruit that would forever stay out of her reach.

Slowly, she sunk her head under the water.

"Just what am I doing?" Manaka asked herself. "Why am I spending time leisurely with that man when my 'paths' have been hindered because of him? Just what the hell is he? The name Saitama…there's no record of a person like him in Root," Manaka thought. Saitama's bored face floated in her mind, and immediately she slapped her cheeks and tried to get rid of that bloody face of his, for she knew she would only get angry again if she saw that face right now.

She resurfaced moments later, and shook her head, trying to get rid of excess water from her hair.

Manaka stared at her reflection in the water.

She was staring at herself yet at the same time she felt she was staring at someone else.

"Hey…me, answer my question…who am I?" Manaka whispered. "Am I simply an avatar of Root? Am I simply an unfortunate Magus born under the worst star? Does Sajyou Manaka even exist? Am I…" Manaka trailed off as she had difficulty saying her next words. "Am I… Am I even a person? Am I even Sajyou Manaka?"

Of course, there was no answer. Her reflection did not give her the answer that she needed.

The only thing that it does was showing her the reflection of Sajyou Manaka's face.

A face that had a deranged smile plastered on her lips and tears flowing from her eyes.

"Is this the face of the human known as Sajyou Manaka?" Manaka asked. Then, her smile grew more deranged than ever before as she reached to her face. "If so…then…this face is not-."

BOOOOOOM

An explosion rocked the entire villa, catching her by surprise as she instantly looked away from her reflection.

"W-what was that!?" Manaka asked.

Hurriedly drying her body, Manaka was about to reach for the door when someone was suddenly knocking on it frantically.

"Little girl, are you in there?" Manaka raised her brow. The voice that came from behind the door was unmistakably that of Saitama's, but his voice was shaking for some reasons.

"What do you want, Servant?"

"The bathrooms in this villa…. they're insured, right?" Saitama asked.

Manaka instantly understood what had happened, but decided to play along.

"What did you do?"

"Well…the shower knob and the gas knob…they're in the same room, right?"

"Yes…"

"I thought it was the shower knob…so…"

"So you thought it was broken, and you forcefully turned the gas knob because the shower wasn't running…until it was broken for real," Manaka finished for him.

"Something like that… By the way, I also broke the gas pipe," Saitama admitted.

"You did what?"

"It was an accident! I swear!"

"Servant…" Manaka rubbed her forehead. Surely if she had ever known what a migraine felt like, it must have been like a headache that she had right now.

"But this villa is insured, right?" Saitama asked again.

A mischievous smile found its way to Manaka's face. She felt this was the perfect opportunity to pay him back for all the troubles he had caused her. And of course, for his comments about her body.

"Unfortunately, we will have to pay for it…" Manaka said, feigning sorrow and depression. She could hear Saitama jumping from shock behind the door, and she almost couldn't stop herself from giggling. Just imagining how he must have looked right now brought so much joy to her. "It's unfortunate, but there's no other way around it. I will have you work in the underworld, as a hired killer or bodyguard, until you can pay it off."

"Huh, what?" Manaka could hear the dread in Saitama's voice, and it made her happy.

"Or maybe…we can send you off in a fishing boat to catch salmon? But doing that would take decades to repay your debt~."

"Wh-what should I dooooooooooooooooooooooooo!?" Saitama screamed.

Giggling, Manaka then said, "If you address me respectfully for the entire week, I might consider giving you a help~," Manaka offered.

"Little girl-sama, what's your order?" Saitama instantly asked. Manaka could not see him, but if she saw him right now, his dignity in her eyes would be non-existent.

After all, the Baldy was currently bowing his head down on the floor.

…

…

…

Manaka sweatdropped.

"Don't you have an ounce of pride in that bald head of yours?" Manaka asked, scorning at Saitama.

"You'll pay the damage, right?" Saitama asked, not giving a damn to her scornful question.

Manaka slapped her face. It seemed she would need extraordinary patience and methods to deal with this melon-headed of a Servant.

"Very well, but you shall worship me first. Reduce yourself to a mere slave and treat me as if I'm your Goddess," Manaka ordered. She inwardly snickered. No matter how idiotic and hopeless he was, he couldn't possibly lack any sense of pride, like at all, right?

Unfortunately, she was wrong.

"Little girl-sama, this Saitama prays to you…please pay for the damage," Saitama humbly prayed.

"…" Manaka was speechless.

"Also, please pay for my electricity and water bills," Saitama continued.

"Wait, what?"

"And don't forget the grocery and clothing expense," Saitama added.

"Who'd want to pay your bills?" Manaka screeched. "That's enough, wait for me outside while I'm changing."

"Little girl-sama, that means…"

"And stop calling me little girl-sama! Either call me 'Master' or use my name!" Manaka ordered.

…

…

…

…

"…What's your name again?" Saitama asked.

Manaka instantly fell to the floor face first.

"You…You…" Manaka held her nose, which was starting to get a nosebleed while angrily staring at the Baldy behind the door. "It's Manaka! Remember that, you stupid baldy!" Manaka yelled as she slammed the door open.

Saitama paled seeing the angry demon that was Sajyou Manaka (who for some reasons had a nosebleed) coming out of the bathroom naked. Immediately he turned around and decided to run away…to save himself from what he knew would be a pain in the ass ranting.

"Don't run away! Saitamaaaaaaaaa!" Manaka shouted his name angrily as she started to give a chase.

Manaka did not realize it.

There was no way she could have realized it.

That there was a smile on her face.

However, that smile was different than any other smiles she ever had before.

It was neither deranged nor false, mischievous nor evil.

It was a simple smile.

A simple, beamingly beautiful smile that undoubtedly belonged to the girl named 'Sajyou Manaka'.

ooo

The next morning, in the hideout of Emiya Kiritsugu's group, a particular white-haired homunculus felt something was off.

"Hmm…" Irisviel held her chin while walking back and forth in front of a mirror.

"Irisviel, what is the matter? You've been pacing back and forth for the last hour," Saber said, concerned that her mistress was somehow feeling unwell.

"Ah, Saber, I'm sorry if I worry you. I was just…" Irisviel stared at the mirror. "I was just thinking about buying new clothes for us~," the homunculus cheerfully said.

"New…clothes?" Saber had a bad feeling about this.

"Don't you think our clothes are a bit out of fashion?" Irisviel asked.

"I fail to see how our clothes are out of fashion," Saber said.

"That's why… Here, take a look!" Irisviel pushed a pamphlet to Saber.

"…Fuyuki's department store…women's clothing 50% bargain…ends today?" Saber muttered, reading the words on the pamphlets. Then, she saw the clothes that were used to promote the discount, and she inwardly sighed.

"Aren't those clothes cute? They make me want to wear them. It's an excellent opportunity to get some for Illya as well~. What do you think, Saber?" Irisviel asked.

Saber had a troubled look on her face. "However, Irisviel, what will Kiritsugu say about this?"

The man in question, who had unintentionally listened on their conversation, opened the door and gave them his approval.

"It's fine. Iri, take Saber with you, but be sure to come back before evening, alright?" Kiritsugu said.

"All right," Irisviel happily agreed with a beaming smile. "Well then, Saber, shall we go?" Irisviel asked, taking Saber's hand.

"Ah, no need to rush, Irisviel," Saber said, smiling wryly.

As she passed her Master, Saber heard Kiritsugu's order.

"Saber…if there's a Master there, don't hesitate and use everything you have to take them out," Kiritsugu ordered.

Saber narrowed her eyes.

To use everything she had just to take out a Master?

And in a crowded place as well?

Did he not know how many casualties such actions would cause?

Kiritsugu saw Saber and Irisviel disappeared through the door, and he could swear he saw Saber glaring at him for a second.

It didn't matter.

How a Servant felt to him, it didn't matter.

In the end, she was just a tool for him to reach his goal.

And a tool had no use for emotions.

"Maiya," Kiritsugu called the name of his most useful 'tool' through the intercom. "How's the preparation going?"

"Everything has been set up. Soon you will have a full view of Tohsaka manor from every possible angle," Maiya reported.

"Good. Now come back, before they realized your presence," Kiritsugu ordered.

"Understood." Maiya closed the connection, leaving Kiritsugu alone to contemplate the current situation of the War.

"Now then…" He looked at the files of a certain priest. More specifically, it was Kotomine Kirei's files. "What are you and Tohsaka Tokiomi plotting, Kotomine Kirei?"

Kiritsugu had assessed the threats that every Master posed in this War.

And amongst them, the most dangerous was Kotomine Kirei.

For such man to work together with Tohsaka Tokiomi, there's definitely some manner of scheme in the work.

ooo

Meanwhile, the Baldy and the little girl-sama were making their way towards the closest bank.

However, the Baldy had been looking around for a good ten minutes now.

The reason was that he felt someone's eyes on his back.

"…Oi, Manaka…" Saitama called to his Master, who was walking just slightly in front of him.

"What do you want now?"

"Is it just me…or are they actually staring at me?" Saitama asked. He looked around again, but the people around them were just continuing with their lives instead of looking at him.

"Of course, they're going to stare at you when you wear something like that…" Manaka replied with a sigh.

Saitama was wearing his usual yellow hero outfit.

However, there was nothing heroic-looking about him.

To the people around them, he was basically just a plain weirdo.

"So, Manaka, you said you're going to get money…but, how much?" Saitama curiously asked.

"Oh…not much…only ten million yen," Manaka casually replied.

Saitama instantly stopped walking.

Manaka looked behind her, wondering why Saitama suddenly stopped walking.

"Te…ten million…?" Saitama repeated.

"Yes, ten million," Manaka confirmed.

"D-don't tell me…. Are you actually a rich Ojou or perhaps a princess who's hiding her identity under the guise of a commoner?" Saitama nervously asked.

"None of the sort. I come from an ordinary family. It's just…well, it's all about opportunities, knowledge, and practice, I guess…" Manaka replied, her voice was filled with boredom. "Ten million yen is not that much, actually...considering I can easily get ten times as much if I wanted to…" Manaka muttered.

"…"

"Anyway, let's go. It's a pain if we have to stand in line just because we arrived twenty-minute late," Manaka said.

"Why don't I just run there carrying you on my back?" Saitama suggested.

Manaka shook her head in disapproval. "No. If we do that, the other Masters will be alerted to our presence. Besides…" Manaka gestured at the people walking all around them. "Normal people don't know the existence of Magi and magecraft, and if a Magus reveals its existence to the world, or just even threaten to do so…the Association will dispatch its enforcer to eliminate that Magus and every person who had been in contact with said Magus," Manaka explained.

"What association you're talking about? PTA?" Saitama asked. In response, Manaka sent a hard kick to his left leg, which ended up making her the one who cried in pain instead.

"I'm talking about Mage Association!" Manaka screeched…with tears flowing from her eyes.

"Mage Association? What's that?"

Manaka was dumbstruck by his question.

"You…did you forget our conversation in that family restaurant yesterday?"

"Those stuff you're telling me? Sorry, I wasn't really listening," Saitama shamelessly admitted.

"I knew it…" Manaka gritted her teeth. She continued telling herself to be patience, since getting angry meant she was the one losing, but hell did she really want to use everything she got to tear this baldy into pieces.

"So, what is it? This Mage Association? Is it where people like you register to be recognized as a professional Magus?" Saitama asked, remembering how the Heroes Association back home functioned.

"As if. Listen, the Association is one of the biggest magical organizations in the world alongside the Holy Church and Atlas and is founded with the main purposes of providing funds for exceptional Magi to continue their researches and as a neutral place for sharing knowledge. While they might punish Magus that threatens the secrecy of Magic, since that's also one of the purposes, they are no heroes. They had even sacrificed countless lives just to take out a lone Magus in the past," Manaka explained.

Saitama picked his nose as he took in all that information. "Oh, so it's basically a mix of charity and vigilante groups," Saitama concluded.

"…Alright, I understand now. There's no saving you," Manaka concluded as well.

Her Servant's simplistic way of thinking really hit her nerves, but she just let it go. If she dwelled in it for too long, she would have a migraine, without a doubt.

More importantly…

"Saitama, remember…in public, you have to use your Servant class to address yourself," Manaka reminded.

Hearing her reminder, Saitama began having a cold sweat.

"Do I really have to...?" Saitama questioned. His face was already complaining even though his mouth hadn't. "I mean…the class you've given me is…"

"Just accept it and move on. I'm sure it's only embarrassing the first time," Manaka answered simply. Saitama began complaining, muttering 'you can say that since you're not the one being ashamed.' Manaka, in turn, pressed her finger on his chest. "If by chance you encounter a Master or a Servant, them knowing your name will put us in great disadvantages in this War. Worse, they could even defeat you when the battle begins. If that happens, your chance of going home will be zero!" Manaka told him.

Saitama could only scratch his head. "So giving out name means certain defeat?" Saitama asked. "Instead of 'War,' this sounds more like a battle game," Saitama told her.

"Well, the original overseer of this 'War' is a childish old Magician who likes playing games, after all…" Manaka muttered. She turned around and began walking at a faster pace, having no intention to wait for her Servant.

"Uh-huh," Saitama just nodded, not knowing whom she was talking about.

Then…something appeared that caught Saitama's attention.

"Th-that thing is…!" Saitama dreadfully thought.

How could such a dreadful thing be in an open place like this where there were a lot of bystanders?

His senses flared up to the sharpest possible state because of 'that thing'.

'That thing' was an opponent that even he wasn't sure he could defeat.

'That thing' moved with a speed that no other living beings could hope to match.

'That thing' was equipped with a single weapon that could pierce any living being.

It was the most dreadful, terrible, and abhorrent abomination in existence.

'That thing' was…

 **BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZTTT**

"SO YOU CAME! YOU DAMN MOSQUITO! (RAGE)" Saitama inwardly roared with rage.

It was a mosquito.

It was a mosquito.

I repeat, it was a mosquito.

A small mosquito.

You know? That insect that sucked blood?

It was the thing that had caused so much frustration and anger for Saitama in the past.

And now that thing had returned.

The mosquito was staring at Saitama.

And Saitama was glaring at it.

They (or rather, Saitama) exchanged a heated look with each other, and the mosquito finally made its move.

 **BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZTTT!**

It flew towards Saitama's head and latched itself there.

"Oh no, you don't!" Saitama roared as he brought his palm to his head.

 **BAM**

He slapped his slick bald head with such great speed and power that it produced a deafening sound.

Surely, he must have gotten the accursed mosquito with that.

But…

 **BZZZZZZZZTTTT**

The mosquito flew away, unharmed by Saitama's slap.

 **BAM**

Saitama clapped his hands.

He smiled as he was convinced that he managed to get it this time.

However…

 **BZZZZZZZZTTTTTTTT!**

As if spitting on his effort, the mosquito safely escaped from his hands…and landed on his right hand.

 **BAM**

Saitama slapped his hand. This time for sure…

 **BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZTTTTTTTTTTT**

Again, the mosquito managed to slip away from his deadly attack, and it flew away from Saitama.

Saitama looked at the mosquito flying away, and for once his expression was not of boredom and indifference.

It was…

"GOD DAMN FUCK SHIT! IT GOT AWAY AGAIN! THAT DAMN MOSQUITO! (RAGE)"

One of pure rage.

Thus, with a mind filled with rage, Saitama chased the mosquito.

As for his Master…

"Geez, what's with those noises? What are you doing behind my back, Serva…" Manaka couldn't say any more the second she turned around.

Her Servant…Saitama was gone.

"…Where did he go?"

ooo

She was crying.

They were crying.

The wailing voices filled that building where none had set afoot for years except for the people who had taken them.

Even so, there was nothing they could do.

They had no strength to escape the ties that bound them.

For they were nothing but children.

And in front of them were abominations that could not be of this world.

One of them, a boy the age of seven, was strapped to a table with ropes.

Looming over the boy were two male adults.

"Ahahahahaha, mister! Look, his chest is going up and down like 'whooosh'! He definitely couldn't wait to see his own lungs, right sir?" asked one of the adults, a young man with short brown hair, two long side bangs, and wearing a purple jacket with a white t-shirt underneath. He was gleefully holding a butcher knife near the boy's chest.

Beside him was a deranged-looking man with appearances similar to mad wizards that could be found in fairy tales. Black hair swiped to the back, robe with oversized ornate neck area, and a tome in one hand. However, the man's most unusual feature was his eyes, which seemed to be on the verge of bulging out of their sockets.

"It is indeed as you say, Ryuunosuke, my Master! To experience the moment you see the inside of the body that God has given you, surely you have never experienced a greater joy!" the deranged man declared while holding the boy's head close to his so the poor young one could see directly into the insane man's eyes.

"HMMMPHHHMHPH!" The young boy shook his head frantically, tears flowing non-stop from his eyes while thrashing his body around in an attempt to escape.

"Sshhh…don't panic. It's alright," Ryuunosuke comforted. The boy slowly stopped thrashing, albeit he was still crying, thinking that the men wouldn't cause him any harm. But then, with a completely innocent voice, he said to the boy, "Soon, you'll be able to see how your organs look~,"

"HMMMPPPPHH!"

"Ahahahahaha~," Ryuunosuke brought the knife above his head.

The children were screaming.

However, for both Ryuunosuke and the deranged man, their screams were like the sound of orchestra music, celebrating the horrendous act that they would commit.

Ryuunosuke brought the knife down, intending to see the organs of the boy.

However…

BAM

'Something' shot past Ryuunosuke with such a speed and power that he was blown away by it.

The deranged man with his almost bulging out eyes could only shield his eyes while trying not to be blown away as well.

The children closed their eyes, screaming as they felt the force of whatever it was that blew away the man in purple jacket.

And the boy, who had almost lost his life, could only watch with wide opened eyes and wet pants as his would-be-murderer was taken out.

"Who…?" the deranged man looked absolutely pissed. "Who dares interfere with our ceremony!?"

Then, he saw it.

The walls and the roof of the building had been destroyed.

They didn't crumble. They were simply gone.

And the culprit surely was that man who was standing in the open field.

"Uuuuhhh…mister, what was that…" Ryuunosuke groggily murmured. As he was about to wait for the deranged man to reply, his sight fell upon the man in the field.

And the only thing he could say was…

"Mister, look! It's freaking awesome! Buddha has descended to this world! And that shiny soccer ball-like bald head! So cool!" Ryuunosuke excitedly yelled, pointing his finger at the bald 'Buddha' in a yellow jumpsuit.

ooo

"Ah…crap…" Saitama murmured, his face paled as his eyes fell upon the 'inhabitants' of the building.

In his quest to exterminate his greatest nemesis, the mosquito, he had chased the treacherous creature all the way to an abandoned building complex.

However, due to his failure to crush that enemy of his, in his rage, he 'accidentally' threw a fist-sized rock 'seriously' towards it.

Throwing a fist-sized rock 'seriously' might not do much…if the one that did the throwing was someone else.

Not only the rock missed the target, but it also shot all the way to the large building in front of him.

The result?

"Is that building insured?"

The building had lost its roof, and most of the walls from the second floor until the roof had been destroyed.

It was more accurate to say they had been obliterated, though, since not even its rubble remained.

Saitama simply scratched his head when he realized what he had done, thinking 'it's just an empty building. No one cares.'

However, he began sweating the moment he saw two adult men on one of the upper floor.

"…"

He was about to call them when suddenly one of the men started yelling while pointing at him.

"Mister, look! It's freaking awesome! Buddha has descended to this world! And that shiny soccer ball-like bald head! So cool!"

At that moment, any thoughts of apologizing gone from his head as his veins started bulging once again from anger.

He was about to yell at them for calling his head like a soccer ball when…

 **BZZZZZZZZZZTTTTTT!**

The damned mosquito returned.

Saitama's gaze slowly followed the movements of the mosquito.

His eyes were sharp, like an eagle.

His legs were tense but ready to move at any time, like a cheetah.

And his bald head was shining under the sun, reflecting the light like a masterfully polished mirror ball.

Then…

 **BAM**

"Got you!" he brought his fists together.

 **BZZZZZZZZZTTTTTTT**

Still, the mosquito managed to elude his fists.

"FUUUUUUUCKKK!" Saitama roared. "Hah!"

The mosquito was flying towards the building!

"Wait! Don't you run from me!" Saitama yelled as he started chasing the mosquito again.

Meanwhile, the two adults who were watching from the building were having a conversation about the 'Buddha'.

"What do you think, mister? Should we invite Buddha-sama to join us?" Ryuunosuke excitedly asked.

"Splendid! What a brilliant suggestion, Ryuunosuke! To have a savior joining our 'fun', surely there's no greater blasphemy than this!" the deranged man said with equal excitement.

The next moment, just as they hoped for the 'Buddha' joined their 'fun'…in an entirely different fashion.

He had jumped from the field, slapping right and left in the process, and landed right behind them.

"GOD DAMN IT! Where did that mosquito go!?" Saitama angrily looked around. He was gritting his teeth so hard that everyone could hear the sound of tooth grinding with each other. "Damn it, next time for sure…huh?" Saitama was about to leave, since the mosquito had managed to elude him, when his sight fell upon the children whimpering in fear on the corner, a boy who was tied to a table, and corpses of children no older than ten being sewed across the walls with their organs missing.

"Hey, hey! Buddha-sama! You want to join us? I have several 'offerings' left if you want them! Ah, but don't take them away, ok? I want to see their intestines when you open them~," Ryuunosuke happily offered.

"…"

"Indeed…for the remains of our offerings shall be used to further the study of 'Art'! To simply take them away is a treachery worthy of a thousand lashing," the deranged man declared.

"…"

"But, but, it's not a problem if you do it here~. Hey, Buddha-sama, you're gonna show us your art, right? Should I get more 'offeri-."

"Shut up."

"Eh?"

"Hmm?"

Saitama slowly looked to the men behind him. "You guys did this?" Saitama asked. His voice was unusually calm and low. Yet, underneath that, something was stirring. Something dangerous.

And the deranged man felt it very well, the danger that came from the bald man.

"Ooooohhh! Are you not a Buddha but a Shura?" the deranged man asked.

"No clue what you're talking about…but, it's clear to me that you guys are villains," Saitama responded. "In that case…I'll punch you two and hand you over to the cops."

"What? Whaaaaaaaaaaat?" Ryuunosuke screamed with disbelief. "Buddha-sama! I thought you're here because you want to join us?" Ryuunosuke asked, grabbing Saitama's shoulders and shaking him back and forth.

"Buddha this, Buddha that, I said I have no clue what nonsense you're spouting. I'm not this Buddha thing, I'm a hero," Saitama replied, pushing Ryuunosuke away.

Ryuunosuke walked to the deranged man's sided, and together they silently stared at him. It didn't last long, though, since the deranged man began screaming hysterically. "Hero? Heeeeeeeeeroooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!?" He pointed a finger at Saitama and pointed another towards the Heaven. "Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhh! What a cursed world we live in! To think the sad existence of hero still exists to this day!"

"…"

"Tell me, Buddha! Why are you a hero? What cursed life did God give you that you picked the path of hero!?" the deranged man asked.

Without missing a breath, Saitama simply said, "…It's a hobby."

"A HOBBBBBYYYYYYYYYYYY?" the mad men screamed. "So hero is no longer a revered position, but a hobby? Ryuunosuke, my Master, this is a revelation without a doubt! No longer are heroes chained by the absurdity of God and the cruelty that is the expectations of the people!" the deranged man declared with jubilation.

Saitama had this 'not interested in their nonsense' kind of look on his face, however, the one word that the insane man spouting caught his attention.

"Master? Are you guys participants in the Grail War?" Saitama asked.

"Indeed, we are! I am Caster, but you may have recognized my name, Gilles de Rais!" the deranged man, Caster introduced.

"Nope, don't know who you are," Saitama said. "But, since you've introduced yourself, I think I should give you mine. I'm Saitama…otherwise known as Servant…Baldy," Saitama bitterly introduced the last part of his introduction.

"Servant Baldy? Ahahahahahahaha~! Mister, so there's such a thing as Servant Baldy? What's next? Will there be Servant Intestines?" Ryuunosuke gleefully asked.

"A Servant… I see… I SEE! So that's how it is! AAAAAHHHH! What a cruel fate God has given us, to think our would-be companion is an enemy Servant!" Caster screamed to the Heaven with a completely devastated look on his face.

"…You guys are nutcases, aren't you?" Saitama flatly commented.

"So be it! Buddha! We cannot allow you to step in our way! It is unfortunate, but now we shall show you a true Nirvana!" Caster proclaimed.

The next moment, the tome in Caster's hand glowed ominously.

And then…countless abominations straight out of nightmares surrounded the entire building.

The children were screaming, crying as they saw the abominations that seemed to appear from unimaginable nightmares inching closer towards them.

The Servant, Caster, and his Master, Ryuunosuke, were respectively chanting spells and staring with excitement at the display of 'Art' that a Servant's flesh would produce.

As for Saitama…

"…"

He simply took a step forward with his fists clenched as the abominations lunged towards him.

ooo

"Hum?" Sensing something amiss, Saber turned her head towards a certain direction.

Something was happening somewhere in that direction.

That was what her senses were telling her.

"Saber, what are you doing? Come over here~," Irisviel cheerfully called.

"…"

Saber was concerned by whatever it was that she felt just now, but for now, Irisviel was her priority.

Tangling arms with Saber, Irisiviel pulled her into one of the store like a little girl pulling her big sister.

"Irisviel, calm down. I'm not going anywhere," Saber said with a somewhat troubled expression.

"You're to slow, Saber. At this rate, the dress will…" Irisviel trailed off the moment her eyes glanced at someone outside the window walking on the other side of the street.

It was a young girl just a year or two older than her daughter.

She had short blonde, almost golden, hair. She had blue eyes and wore an aquamarine dress. She had fair skin, and cute and innocent face. And she carried with her a small metal case.

By appearances alone, there was no doubt that she looked like an ordinary young girl.

But something about her felt unsettling.

Irisviel couldn't properly describe it, but instead of staring at a young girl, it felt like she was staring at a bottomless well that threatened to drag everything down to the darkness.

"That girl…who?" Irisviel muttered.

An unexpected thing happened next.

The girl suddenly stopped on her track.

A wide and giddy, almost insane even, smile then appeared on that innocent face.

Slowly, the girl cracked her neck.

Then she turned her head around…and stared directly at her.

"…"

There were many people around them, but there was no doubt, the girl was staring at her.

"What? What do you want? Who are you? Irisviel asked with a small voice.

The girl simply continued to stare at her, but then her mouth began moving.

Irisviel was not an expert on reading lips movements. She most likely had never even heard of such thing.

But, if she could, the message went like this.

'You are mine'

Giving a courteous bow, the girl then disappeared into the crowd of men.

"…" Irisviel remained rooted to her spot, unable to move for some reasons.

'Irisviel'

"Just…who is that girl?"

'Irisviel…'

"Is she a Magus? A participant in the Grail War? Or…"

"Irisviel!"

Irisviel jumped as Saber's voice entered her ears. She looked to the person beside her, and without a doubt, it was her husband's Servant, Saber.

"S-Saber?"

"Are you all right, Irisviel? You've been spacing out for a while now," Saber asked, feeling concerned for her well-being.

"I…I was just staring at that girl over there…" Irisviel said, pointing her finger at the pedestrian footpath across the street.

"A girl?" Saber followed Irisviel's line of sight, but there was no girl there. "…Is it enemy?"

"I…I don't know, but…" Irisviel's voice was trembling. "She'd be dangerous as friend and enemy alike…at least that's how I feel…"

"…"

Saber could do nothing but narrowed her eyes at her words.

ooo

Manaka was happy.

Why wouldn't she?

After all, the vessel was in a prime condition.

Which means, there would be no complication during the summoning.

She was feeling a bit worried earlier, though.

Ever since her Servant appeared, she was no longer sure about the validity of the knowledge from Root.

She did not know what actions her Servant would do, after all.

And so, when she searched for the current vessel of the Grail and its conditions, she had initially been a bit skeptical.

But now it was clear. The only things that she did not know were things that were related to her Servant.

And speaking of that Baldy…

"Just where did he go? That lame Baldy…when he comes back, I will… I will…" Manaka trailed off. "I will what? What should I do? Strap him to a chair and electrocute him? Cut off one of his limbs? Making sure he can't speak again? Aah~, just what should I do~?" Manaka wondered aloud with excitement.

The possibility was endless.

Since her Servant was an anomaly, she did not know the consequences of torturing him. She did not know what reactions he would have.

Would he scream?

Would he cry?

Would he laugh?

Would he shut his mouth?

Would he be defiant of her?

Would he die?

All those questions appeared in her mind, and now she was feeling happy that her Servant had gone and left her alone.

Now she had a valid excuse to experiment on him.

Even so…

"Mouu~, just what's with all the noises?" Manaka complained.

The sound of police and ambulance sirens had filled the air.

The sight of police cars and ambulance dominated the street.

And they were all heading to one place.

"Can't they at least tune down those noises? Really…what's happening to make them that frantic?" Manaka sighed as she started walking away.

She had something to do before she paid Tohsaka manor a visit. Manaka took out a red fabric that she had carefully hidden beneath her dress.

It was the ceremonial robe that was given to Saitama by Zelretch.

"Even after I protect myself with magecraft and used sealing technique on it…the corruption is still leaking out. As expected of an object related to Angra Mainyu," Manaka inwardly praised.

Right now, she needed to go to Ryuudou temple.

There's no suitable place other than there to fully utilize this fabric, after all.

With light steps, she hummed Symphony No. 5 by Beethoven and made her ways to Ryuudou temple.

The girl did not realize it again.

That she had asked a question that she shouldn't need to ask.

The girl did not realize that her Servant had begun breaking down the world where she knew everything.

ooo

"There seem to be a lot of police activities… Maiya, do you know something?" Kiritsugu asked.

Using his binocular, he was watching police cars and ambulance heading frantically towards the eastern part of Fuyuki, specifically the area around the abandoned complex where a single building stood.

A woman with short black hair, sharp eyes, and dressed entirely in black replied to Kiritsugu. "From what the police said over their radio and phone, it appears that many of the missing children that have disappeared since the beginning of Holy Grail War have been found alive and well."

Kiritsugu's ears perked up slightly. "Oh? What else?" he asked. Even in this situation, it was unknown if he felt anything at all at this news.

"The person who called the authority appears to be female," Maiya added.

"Female? Is she the one who found them?"

"No, based on her testimony, she said a man suddenly appeared with children in front of her door, and asking if she can call the police," Maiya answered.

"A man?" Kiritsugu asked. Maiya nodded her head as confirmation. "Did she give out a description of him?"

"Yes, but not much that we can use it as information," Maiya said. "The only description of the man that the woman gave is that he has bald head."

"…That's all?" Kiritsugu questioned.

"Yes," Maiya confirmed, nodding her head once again. "However, all the missing children describe this man using the same word," Maiya added.

"What is it?"

"They call him…"

ooo

Within the largest room in Tohsaka manor, a man in golden armour was having a bad mood.

The man had sensed it. He sensed something occurring earlier. Yet, he did not know what was causing it.

And for a King to experience such thing, it couldn't be helped that he was feeling irritated.

"Tokiomi, if you know anything that gives me this irritation, it will be best for you to say it now," the golden man, Archer, said.

There was no doubt about the threat lies beneath that prideful voice.

Even so, Tokiomi could not hide what he did not know.

"My King, it appears there is a commotion happening with the commoners outside because they have found many of the children that had been missing for quite some time," Tokiomi explained.

"Hah! Mongrels are running around screaming just because they've lost their younglings… No matter the era, this hasn't changed at all," Archer barked out.

"Indeed, it is as you have said," Tokiomi agreed. "However, my King… you may want to know that there is a high possibility that the kidnapper was Caster," Tokiomi said.

Archer's expression didn't change. But slowly a mocking smile appeared on that face. "So whoever it was who rescue those mongrels, that mutt is skilled enough to deal with Caster. Is that what you're trying to say?" Archer asked, although it sounded more like a statement.

"Yes, as such…it might be in our best interest to be aware of this person. To see whether he will stand in your way or not," Tokiomi said.

"Stand in my way? Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! You say some amusing thing, Tokiomi! Nothing can stand in the way of a King! However…" A golden ripple appeared next to Archer. Then, something shot out of the ripple towards the forest outside, breaking the windows in the process. "It seems a foolish rat has found its way to this place."

Tokiomi stared at the direction that Archer was looking, and his gaze intensified. "I will send my familiars to check it."

Archer simply waved his hand. "No need. Whoever that mongrel was, he was no longer there," Archer said. "Tell me more about it, Tokiomi. At the very least, it's a good way to spend some times until our performance tonight."

"Very well," Tokiomi bowed. "It appears the children have taken a liking to their savior and decided to call him with a particular title."

"Oh? Do tell what that is."

"…They call him…"

ooo

Manaka grinned.

"As expected of the King of Heroes. His senses are sharp," Manaka praised as she watched her double dissolved into mud.

Right after she had finished her business in Ryuudou temple, she immediately headed to Tohsaka manor.

Why?

Because she wanted to watch the 'performance' of two Servants, Archer and Assassin.

Despite knowing the danger that Assassin posed, and considering the sun was about to set, it might not be the best of actions.

Even so, she wanted to see it for herself.

She knew what would happen, but that's different from seeing it actually happening.

Besides, she was confident that no Servant, aside from Caster, could possibly detect her right position.

She had hidden herself in a bounded field.

And she had created multiple doubles to act as decoys.

Her set up was perfect. Now she could just sit back and see Archer's power.

Now, if only her Servant was here beside her to witness Archer's power…

"That just mean he wouldn't get pocket money from me anytime soon~," Manaka playfully said.

She did not know where that Baldy was. But as long as he's useful to her, she wouldn't complaint too much.

"Now…show me your treasures. Show me the Gate of Babylon…Gilgamesh~," Manaka sang Archer's true name with joy.

She could finally witness the origin of most Servants' weapons.

ooo

On the other side of the city, the Baldy was trying to ask for direction, but for some reasons people were avoiding him.

"The hell's wrong with them? I just want to ask where I am…" Saitama curiously thought.

Let's saw the situation from the people that he approached, shall we?

What would happen when a bald man who was wearing a yellow jumpsuit and a cape suddenly came towards them with gloves covered in blood and gore?

Naturally, they ran away, or, at least, tried to distance themselves from the man.

In fact, they should probably call the cops to have the man arrested.

Which was something that one of them did.

A woman quickly approached a public telephone and dial 110.

"Hello, police? Help! There's a murderer here!"

"Eh?"

"Help! He's already covered with blood, and he seems to look for more!" the woman continued.

"Hold on a second…" Saitama walked towards the woman, but this caused her to scream in horror.

"NOOOOO! STAY AWAY! SOMEONE, HELP!" the woman screamed.

"…"

Saitama simply turned around and walked away.

He continued to walk until there was no one else but him.

But, then he stopped.

He felt hungry.

He had been going around without eating.

Noticing a ramen shop at the corner of his eye, drool started to drip from his mouth.

"Guess I'll check it out," Saitama muttered.

The smell of ramen was unbearable. He could even tell that the ramen in this shop was exceptional just from the smell alone.

And he hadn't even stepped inside, still lingering outside the entrance.

With his right foot planted on the entrance, and the fragrance of spices entered his nose, Saitama excitedly entered the shop.

Except that he didn't. He took a couple of steps backward, and depressingly fell to the ground for he had remembered a particularly cruel fact.

"I'VE GOT NO MONEY! FUUUUUUUUUUUUCKKK!"

That he didn't have even a cent in his pocket.

"What to do? What should I do?" Saitama screamed in his head. Then, as if to add salt to injury, a wind caused a certain brochure to pass his sight, and the look of terror was all over his face. "Discount…discount…discount…" Saitama muttered repeatedly. Then…he took off while screaming. "DISCOUNT!"

How could he forget about it?

About that sweet discount on clothing.

Saitama ran.

He ran through a narrow alley.

He broke through a public bath.

He ran through three houses in a row.

Then, he jumped.

The moment he saw a tall building, he jumped to the roof.

"Where!? Where is it!?" The look on Saitama's face was like a predator that was desperately searching for its last meal before death.

There was no need for it to be said at this point, but even if he found it, he couldn't buy a single thing without money.

Anyways, let's be positive and pretend that he could actually buy it, ok?

"There it is! That giant sign!" Saitama dashed towards the department store.

Time was of the essence.

If he's late, he might not get the correct size.

Alas, fate was not on his side.

As his hand was about to reach for the entrance door, he instantly disappeared in a faint blue light.

ooo

"…" Saitama stopped.

The department store had disappeared.

Or rather, where the hell was he?

It was some dark forest with a large manor on the distance.

"Really…making me used a command seal to get you… You really are a troublemaker," the voice that said that to him was undoubtedly that of a certain young girl.

That young girl had the appearance that undoubtedly belonged to Sajyou Manaka.

Saitama blinked, then he asked, "Hey, the fuck did you do?"

"What do you mean? I summoned you here; that's what," Manaka replied.

"No, you don't understand the thing you've done!" Saitama grabbed Manaka and began shaking her. "I was just about to reach it! The discount! The sale!"

Manaka smacked his hands away, and angrily glared at him. "How's that my problem?" Manaka asked. Saitama was about to reply when Manaka swiftly interrupted him. "For your information, you agreed to accompany me, and I'll give you money as a reward. But what do we have? Not even an hour after we stepped out of our hideout, and you're gone," Manaka told him with a cold voice.

"That's…"

"Why did you disappear?" Manaka asked. If one could kill with a gaze alone, her gaze would have killed anyone who saw it…except for Saitama who was cleaning his ear.

"…There's a mosquito," Saitama answered.

Manaka raised her brow. "Mosquito? Don't tell me you're chasing mosquito the whole day…"

"…" Slowly, slowly, Saitama averted his eyes.

"For real?" Manaka couldn't believe it. There was actually an idiot who would chase a mosquito the whole day? Perhaps he was a special case, and his brand of idiocy was specific to him alone.

His words caused so much pain for her brain. It was trying too hard to come up with a logical reason as to why someone would even chase a mosquito the entire day.

"So, are we going home now?" Saitama questioned, causing her, even more, headache.

"No, not yet. I want you to see that," Manaka pointed a finger towards the manor.

Saitama followed her finger and looked at the manor. "That?"

"If you can't see it, I'll use my familiar to-."

"Huh, a man in golden armor is battling a skeleton," Saitama commented much to Manaka's surprise.

"…You can see it?" Manaka asked. She hadn't expected her Servant to have very keen eyesight.

"Yeah. But...who's staging the play? That golden one seems like a very expensive actor," Saitama said.

"You can tell?"

"Of course. That golden one looks irked, but it is clear that he's holding back a lot," Saitama said.

"…"

"Oi, Manaka, who are they?"

Manaka let out a heavy sigh. Seemed like he was much more than just an idiot baldy with high physical strength.

"They're Servants," Manaka answered.

"Servants?"

"The golden one is Archer, and the skeleton one is Assassin," Manaka revealed.

"Heh…"

Manaka eyed her Servant. She didn't expect that kind of response from him. "What do you think of them, Saitama?"

"..."

"Saitama?"

"Manaka, what's with those golden ripples behind the golden man?" Saitama curiously asked.

"That? That's called the Gate of Babylon. It's where an ancient King stored all his treasures, be it organic or inorganic. As long as they're in that Gate, any object could withstand the passage of time and not age even a day," Manaka explained.

Saitama stared at her with wide eyes. "…Did you say organic as well?"

"Well, yes. Why're you asking?"

Saitama gently put a hand on her shoulder, and asked, "Manaka, can you make one like that for me? If I have something like that, I wouldn't have to worry about expiration date anymore."

…

…

…

"…"

Manaka was giving him a completely flat stare.

Talked about selfish, asking her to create something like the Gate of Babylon so that he could store food for an indefinite amounts of time.

Well, yes, she had the knowledge to create one. But that didn't mean she could actually create one!

The materials didn't even exist anymore!

No, it's more accurate to say the materials were still exist, but they're no longer approachable by humans.

They're now located in the 'other side of the world', after all.

"No, I can't do it," Manaka said, much to Saitama's disappointment. "Unless you want to wait a thousand year, then sure, I'll make one for you."

"No thanks," Saitama flatly refused.

"How unfortunate. If only you're a bit more patie-."

"I'm not a fan of making grandmas work," Saitama added, cutting her sentence.

"…Grandma?"

"After a thousand year, of course you'd be grandma at that point," Saitama said. "Wait, since in a hundred year you'd already be a grandma, should I call mummy, instead? Also, how're you gonna live by then? Is Government support valid for a thousand year?" Saitama worriedly asked.

"You... I give up," Manaka sighed tiredly. She really couldn't predict his train of thought. No, anyone who could predict his train of thought would be a weirdo on the same level as him. "I'm tired… Let's go home…" Manaka muttered.

"Ah, watch out," Saitama calmly said.

"Huh?" was about the only thing she could mutter as she saw three projectiles coming towards her. "Don't tell me… Gilgamesh managed to see through my bounded field!" Manaka warily thought.

She couldn't move in time.

The projectiles were aiming for her body and head.

Manaka closed her eyes, expecting the pain that would come from receiving a direct hit from the Gate of Babylon.

But, there was nothing.

Slowly, she opened her eyes…and saw her Servant crushing what appeared to be swords and a halberd with his bare hands.

"Saitama…you…" Manaka couldn't form a comprehensive sentence, and as such she could only stare at him.

"You alright?" Saitama asked.

"…" Manaka only gave a weak nod.

"Let's go. That golden guy has been glaring at us for a while now. Maybe we trespassed into his Master's garden or something," Saitama curiously mentioned.

Manaka remained silent. But then with a slightly flushed face, she murmured, "Thank you," before running past through Saitama towards the opposite direction of the manor.

Saitama didn't hear her words of gratitude, nor did he need to hear it. All he needed was…

"Oi, Manaka, wait! Let's find some food first! I'm hungry!" Saitama yelled.

"I'll cook for you!" Manaka replied.

"Wait, what?"

"I've bought some ingredients this morning, after I got my money. I've asked them to deliver it to our place, so it should be there by now," Manaka explained.

"No, that's no what I was asking…"

"Eh?"

"Manaka…you can cook?" Saitama asked with a very surprised face.

"…" Manaka simply gave him a look that basically said 'stupid' and started running again.

"Oi, wait for me!" Saitama yelled.

ooo

Emiya Kiritsugu was observing.

He was observing the dock of Fuyuki through his binocular.

The place was filled with containers, but there was almost no human there.

It was the perfect place for a battle between Servants.

Now, the only thing he would need was bait.

He was about to call his 'tool', Maiya, when he saw children walking with their parents on the street.

This reminded him of his earlier conversation with Maiya, about the children that had been saved.

They were all calling the man who saved them with a certain title.

They called him…

"A hero…huh?"

What a joke.

There was no such thing as a hero.

Hero was nothing but an illusion born out of naivety and false hope.

Hero who could save everyone didn't exist.

What existed was the cruel reality that couldn't be changed.

That in order to save, a sacrifice had to be made.

As such, there was no way that the person who saved those children was a hero.

Most likely he was just a passerby who accidentally stumbled upon their location.

"If a hero truly exists...the world wouldn't be such a living hell…" Kiritsugu muttered.

He then returned his attention back to the dock, while starting to formulate the plans for tomorrow confrontation.

ooo

 **End of Chapter 3**

ooo

 **Preview for Chapter 4.**

 **Encounter**

"Who are you? Are you a Servant?"

"…Servant? I don't know what you're talking about, but old man, I do have a question of my own."

"Hoh? Tell me."

"Are you the one who do this to this little girl?"

"…Uh…"

"And if I am, what are you going to do? Sakura was entrusted to me, so it is my right to groom her as I see fit."

"…Don't you realize you're harming her?"

"I do, but…so what?"

"...You're rotten to the core…"

"Not the first time I hear it. As I said, what are you going to do?"

"It's obvious. Saving her from you."

"Oh? But Sakura doesn't want to be saved, isn't that right, Sakura?"

"…Little girl, what do you want? Do you want to stay here…or do you want to come with me and be freed?"

"…I…"

"Come here…Sakura."

"…I…!"

"What do you want, Sakura?"

"I…. I want… I want to go back… I want to go back to Otou-san! I want to feel Okaa-san's warm again! I want to play with Onee-chan again! I don't… I have enough of the pains…!"

"SAKURA!"

"Seems like it's been decided."

"No, not yet. What makes you think you can take her out of here alive?"

"Of course I can. At the very least, even if it costs me this life, I will save her."

"Mister…"

"Such foolishness... As expected, young men these days are fools! Let me hear your name, so I can engrave it on your grave and spit on it."

"I am disciple of Caped Baldy…Cyborg of Justice…Genos! You won't do any spitting, because there's only one fate for you! Incineration!"

"…Mister…Genos Onii-san…"


	5. Chapter 4

**All credits go to the author, Arcreed.**

 **Disclaimers: I do not own the characters or franchises in this story.**

 **ooo**

Chapter 4

 **Encounter**

ooo

Within the confine of the Hero Association headquarter; in what was (formerly?) the room of the hero 'Caped Baldy', a blonde-haired cyborg had been inspecting the molecular compositions of every substance and object to determine the exact cause of the room's current state.

The cyborg Genos had yet to step outside for the last hour. He was busy trying to find any clues as to what causing such havoc to his Sensei's room and determining who and where the culprit had gone.

If possible, he wanted to capture the culprit and made him prostrate before his Sensei.

No. He would definitely catch the culprit and get him to prostrate before Sensei.

Even so…

"This is a problem…" Genos mused with a slightly troubled face. "With his room like this…Saitama-sensei might be forced to look somewhere else to stay till the damages are repaired. If possible, I would let him stay in my place, but..."

The problem was that his place had been arranged by the Association to give optimal support to his cyborg body.

As a result, it could hardly be called a place that was 'suitable for non-cyborg' to live in.

He had put a plan to modify the place to resemble an ordinary room. However, he had not been able to execute it just yet. He needed to get permission from the Association first before he could do so.

"Maybe I should, at least, try patching it up a bit before Sensei returned," Genos muttered as he stared at the large hole in the room.

It was strange, though.

There was no sign of burnt, decay, or some form of physical removal on the perimeter of the hole.

It was as if the bathroom had just disappeared.

If only, there was a visual record.

"…!" Genos head snapped up.

How could he forget about it?

Genos began touching the ceiling, trying to find what he was searching.

"It should be around here." Genos narrowed his eyes. His fingers felt a soft spot on the otherwise hard ceiling. Genos pushed the spot with a bit of power, and it opened up to reveal a hidden camera. "So this is the hidden camera that Association has installed."

In the report compiled for all S-Class heroes regarding the new headquarter and the heroes' residence, there was one feature that he was most interested in.

The Hero Association had ordered Metal Knight to install hidden security cameras in every room in HQ.

Genos wasn't sure what their intentions were for taking such measures, but his concern lied with whom they had assigned to do it.

He could not trust the hero Metal Knight. Perhaps it was just him overthinking it, perhaps his concern was unfounded, but something about that hero was dangerous.

And there was that warning from the hero Drive Knight.

Although, he guessed he could give his gratitude for the cameras that he had installed.

"Let's see…" As Genos was about to probe the camera, an elderly voice spoke to him with a mocking undertone from behind.

"There's no need to go through all that trouble, Demon Cyborg."

"Who's there?!" Genos instantly turned around, his heat beams ready to fire.

Who stood there was a tall elderly man around fifty or sixty years of age. He had a short, well-trimmed beard across his chin. His face was filled with wrinkles, yet brimming with vigor at the same time.

In this room where there was no wind blowing, the elderly man's purple robe that was draped on top of black silk uniform seemed to flutter on its own.

And the fingers that were skinny, yet full of power were playfully tapping on a black wooden cane.

"Easy there, young man. No need to aim those heat beams at me," the elderly man raised his right hand, trying to diffuse the suspicion that Genos had on him.

Genos' expression remained still; his glare didn't soften even slightly. "Identify yourself. If you don't…"

The elderly man smirked. "Try me. I doubt you'd fire something like that to an unarmed civilian. For one, you are the Cyborg of Justice, and…" The elderly man's smirk grew even wider. "You wouldn't want to disappoint Saitama, wouldn't you?"

"You… How do you know about Sensei? Who are you?" Genos vigilantly dropped his hands to the sides. However he was still glaring at the elderly man, something that caused said person to shake his head with a wry smile on his face.

"Don't need to be that vigilant… It's not like I'm planning to prank you like I did to my prospective pupils," the elderly man told Genos.

"Answer my questions."

"The questions of who I am and how I knew of Saitama are as important as dirt on the ground compare to the question of…where Saitama is," the elderly man spoke with a slightly sinister tone.

At the mention of Saitama's whereabouts, Genos' shoulders tensed up, his glare hardened even further, and his heat beams started flickering.

"Relax, I didn't do him any harm. Not like anything can do him any harm for that matter," the elderly man mused. "But the place where he is now, even if you spend the rest of your life attempting…you still wouldn't be able to reach him."

"You're speaking as if Sensei's in a different world of some sort," Genos said.

The elderly man's smile turned into a full-blown laughter.

"…" Genos remained silent; his eyes didn't leave the old man even for one second. Then, suddenly the old man's red eyes began to glow ominously.

"That's exactly it," he began. "Saitama…Caped Baldy is no longer in this world. He's currently in a world similar yet vastly different than this one. Parallel world is perhaps the closest thing I can say to describe where he is, but since this world has detached itself from the 'origin', I guess it is more accurate to call it an entirely different world," mused the old man, holding up his chin as he started to get lost in his thought.

"Quite an outlandish story, but…" Genos aimed his heat beam at the man. His patience was beginning to run thin. "Do you think I'll believe made-up lies like that? I'm not that gullible of a person."

"Calm down and listen first," the elderly man chided. "No…for someone like you, perhaps doing 'this' is more efficient…"

"This?"

The world around Genos began to spin.

At first, it was slow like water that slowly drained into the sink.

But the speed continued to increase until it felt like he was standing in the centre of a massive and violent tornado.

Then the world exploded into rainbow-coloured light, destroying the reality that he knew.

And the next moment, Genos blacked out.

The elderly man gently pressed Genos' arm with his cane before letting out an audible sigh.

"I wouldn't need to resort to this if only you're a bit more like your master…"

ooo

Dark...

He could not see a thing.

What was this place?

He could not feel anything, not even the pull of gravity.

He was just drifting aimlessly in the darkness.

[…]

He tried to speak, but words wouldn't come out from his throat.

As he was struggling, a darkish red light started to shine in the darkness from a location that he could not pinpoint.

Then…he saw it.

A visage of someone's back.

It was the back of a man that he knew very well.

That white cape, that yellow jumpsuit, there was no doubt about it.

[…!]

He tried to call out to the man in the yellow jumpsuit.

The man didn't notice him and continued to walk away towards what appeared to be the source of the light.

The man in yellow jumpsuit cocked back his fist, and then he delivered a mighty strike that blasted away not only the light but also the darkness included.

He opened his eyes, and the scenery had changed.

There was a city being razed to the ground by the inferno.

There were seven pairs of people who were completely immersed in battling each other as if they did not notice the destruction around them.

And then the man in the yellow jumpsuit walked to them with a girl in an aquamarine dress.

The next thing that happened was a maelstrom of energy, and the scenery changed once again.

He opened his eyes to see the ashen remains of the inferno.

He saw the man in the yellow jumpsuit standing on top of the rubble, facing a man with a messy black hair and unkempt appearance.

The man with the black hair looked distressed. He weakly sat on his knees and angrily pounded the blackened ground.

Tears dropped from the eyes of the man with the black hair as he screamed something at the man in the yellow jumpsuit.

He could not hear their conversation, but it was possible for him to read their lips movements.

However, as the man in the yellow jumpsuit was about to open his mouth, the scenery turned into darkness once again, and he slowly felt his consciousness slipping away.

ooo

While he was waiting for the cyborg to wake up, the elderly man had been appraising the room of Caped Baldy.

There was nothing notable in his room. None at all. There was not even a single adult magazine for him to enjoy.

All there was was a stack of manga and cheap B movies.

"For all the power he has…living like this is just…hah…" the elderly man sighed.

He felt he shouldn't feel surprised. From his observation, that man was incredibly simplistic and lazy to the point of sin. It shouldn't be a surprise then that his personality would be reflected in his living standard.

"Wait, I know…" His lips slowly curved into a mischievous grin. "What if I do this…and this…" He tapped his cane once on each corner of the room, all the while smiling even wider than before. "There. Done. I can't wait to see someone enter this place," the elderly man excitedly said to himself.

The old man was about to do some more tinkering to Saitama's place when Genos started stirring.

"Oh? It's earlier than I expected… Is it because of his cyber enhancement or simply his natural mental fortitude?" the man pondered, sounding impressed.

Groaning, Genos' eyes flickered before it snapped open really wide. He instantly jumped up and put up some distance between him and the elderly man.

"Old man…what was that? I saw sensei, and he was…"

"Fighting against seven pairs of fighters? Facing an endless darkness? Standing in the middle of an inferno?" the elderly man finished with a knowing look.

"How did you-,"

"All of those were visions…no, at this point, it is more accurate to call them illusions, I guess," the elderly pondered, tapping his cane with his fingers.

"It's way too real to be mere illusions," Genos stated which the elderly man agreed with a nod. "Old man, who are you? No, what are you?"

"Finally, feel like listening to my story?" the elderly man teasingly asked.

"…"

"Let's see…where to begin? First of all…what do you know about Magic?"

ooo

Meanwhile in a certain villa on Fuyuki, the Baldy was sleeping soundly.

"Hehe…hehehehehehe~."

Nevermind. The annoying, stupid grin on his face…the Baldy was having a really nice dream at the moment.

Unfortunately for him, a massive earthquake interrupted it.

"Huh?" Saitama groggily opened his eyes. "What is it? Why's it shaking?" Saitama sat up, and lazily looked at his room…that was no longer exist.

In fact, the entire villa, save for a portion of where he was lying, had gone. And thanks to that he could see the view of the outside.

"…"

The entire city was engulfed in a massive inferno; thick smoke billowed from every corner, obscuring the sight for everyone.

Well, not for him, that's for sure.

Seeing the inferno that engulfed the city and the current state of the city, Saitama, with a pale face, commented, "…How many people forgot to turn off their stoves?"

Honestly, what he's concerned about was if the convenience stores were fine.

Of course, he's worried about the people's lives, too. Not as much as his concern for the convenience stores and supermarkets, though.

As he pondered what to do about grocery now that the city was ravaged by fire, Saitama noticed black substance oozing down from the destroyed ceiling of his room.

The thick black substance was dripping to the floor and slowly flowed towards him.

Instantly, Saitama crawled away with a disgust-filled expression on his face.

"Is that snot? That's snot, isn't it? Where's the monster responsible for this?!" Saitama raged.

As if to response to his raging question, the black 'snot' shot towards Saitama, much to his chagrin.

"Waaaaaa! Don't come closer!" Saitama yelled in panic. It was futile, however, as the 'snot' laced to his body…and tried to devour him? "Wait, what?"

The 'snot' was attempting to melt him down. No, since it was attempting to eat him, it was more accurate to say it was trying to digest him.

"Oh, I see…" Saitama slowly clenched his fist, before delivering a blow that completely pulverized the 'snot'. "If you're a monster, then say so. Seriously, freaking me out like that…"

Saitama began wondering what he should do, but he then noticed the absence of a particular little girl.

"Manaka? Oiii, Manaka~! Are you around~?" Saitama yelled, hoping to hear some sort of response.

…

…

…

There was none.

"…"

What should he do?

Should he prioritize searching for Manaka first?

Or should he head to where the inferno was to check if the supermarkets and convenience stores were intact?

But, was there a need for him to go there?

By now the fire crews must have been there already, battling the blaze.

Perhaps he should relax a bit and search for the culprit that was responsible for this.

Luckily for him, the source of the problem decided to show itself.

" **WWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"**

A deafening roar came from the centre of the inferno.

To call it a roar, however, could not adequately describe that sound.

It was like millions of voices drown in terror screaming at the same time.

It was a voice made of sorrow, pain, and…fear.

In the middle of the burning Fuyuki, a large crack appeared, before a gigantic flaming humanoid monster burst out of the ground, causing an explosion that completely pulverized everything as far as the eyes could see.

From water to building, to soil and even air.

Everything…except for Saitama, who now stood in his birthday suit because his clothes were pulverized.

That monster was so gigantic that even just the base of its feet was larger than the nearby mountains.

And though its head was obstructed by the clouds, Saitama could clearly see that it reached even space.

"…" Saitama, cared not for his current state, stared at the monster in boredom, unimpressed by its display of power and size. That soon changed, however, when he saw a certain little girl tied to the chest of the monster.

That blonde hair, that face, that non-existent chest, there was no doubt about it.

It was Manaka.

Seeing her tied to the monster's chest, and naked on top of that, Saitama shakily pointed a finger at the monster.

"Uh…you might want to let her down," Saitama began, slightly sweating. "She's a pain in the ass when she's angry."

Ignoring Saitama's advice, the monster looked towards his direction. Its featureless face was no longer 'featureless' as a hole the size of a football stadium appeared as its mouth. Light started to shine from that hole, and slowly a ball of energy was formed.

Saitama picked his nose while waiting for it to finish charging its attack. Seriously, with the pace that the ball of energy forming, he could probably finish making and eating two instant noodles by the time it fired that shot.

The ball grew brighter, illuminating the blackened landscape with crimson light.

And then...

" **OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"**

Countless beams shot out from the ball to every direction, decimating the mountains, evaporating the sea, slicing through the sky, the beams blew anything that came into contact with it.

And three of them were heading straight towards Saitama.

"Huh, that's different than what I was expecting," Saitama mused. The next moment, he used his fist to punch one of the beams but was surprised to find his hand was burned from touching it. "…This…"

That was as far as he could say as the remaining beams blew him away.

" **WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWOWOOWOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"**

The monster roared as if jeering at Saitama's foolish attempt to stand up against it. Now the foolish little creature had perished without a doubt.

However, defying the monster's assumption, the smoke was blown away by Saitama, revealing his bloodied injured body.

"It's been a long time…" Saitama muttered, his voice trembling with excitement. "I've been waiting for something like you to appear! Come! Let's fight!" Saitama excitedly shouted.

" **OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"**

The monster roared again as if it accepted that challenge.

ooo

It was morning in Fuyuki. It was an excellent and ideal morning for people to do jogging and morning exercises, and tasted a bit of fresh morning air to clear the mind. It was such a beautiful morning that birds had been singing since the sun rose.

On this pleasant morning, one person did not share the sentiment of others.

One bald person continued to sleep soundly…without realizing the little devil that was staring down at him with contempt.

"GRROOOOOOOOOKKKK...HAH! HAAAAHHAAAHAHAH! GROOOOOOOOOOKKKK!"

Well, nevermind that, he was snoring and thrashing around like crazy.

"How could he stay asleep after I kept yelling at him? Did he drink sleeping pills last night?" the little devil wondered out loud.

Earlier, she had yelled at him to wake up because she had finished preparing breakfast for them and she needed to brief him on her plans for the evening.

But, no matter how loud she yelled at him, the Baldy just wouldn't wake up. It's like he had cotton blocking his eardrums or something.

The little devil bent down, looking at the Baldy closer and began pinching his cheek.

"Hmm… He's not waking up…" the little devil muttered.

She then moved her fingers to his nose and pinched it.

"GAH! GHAAAAAAKAAKAAA!"

It only made the Baldy thrashed around even more while letting out weird noises.

"What if I do this instead?" The little devil grabbed four toothpicks, forcibly opened the Baldy's eyes, and held it open using them.

The result?

"HARAHHAHARHAHAHHAHHRAAAAAAAHIIIII! GAAAAAAKKAKAKAA!"

The toothpicks broke from the strength of the Baldy's eyelids, and the Baldy began violently thrashing around while rolling left and right like a malevolent spirit had possessed him.

"Still not waking up…" The little devil began to ponder about what she should do next when a brilliant idea popped up in her head.

With a mischievous grin on her lips, she went out of the room to get a certain item.

 **~ 5 Minutes Later ~**

"Now then…let's see how 'artistic' I can draw it~," the little devil excitedly sang.

In her hand was a marker.

Not the kind of marker that could be erased with a swipe of the hand.

It was an oil-based permanent marker, the type that would take days to wash off.

"Hmm~, hum~, lalala~."

And that little devil had decided to use that marker to give the Baldy a bit of…personal decoration to change his plain look.

First, she drew a diagonal line. Then, another line. Then, another. And then, another, until his head was filled with hexagonal shapes.

"Uhuhu~, it's going so well~," the little devil giddily muttered.

She began colouring some of the hexagonal shapes with a black marker, all the while unable to contain a little laughter that came out of her mouth for knowing how much pain this would cause to the Baldy.

"And…done!" The little devil had a satisfied expression on her face, puffing her almost non-existent chest proudly from her work. "Now I just have to wait until he wakes up~."

ooo

Saitama was cornered.

The monster was proven to be a really tough opponent. It had managed to break his left arm, injured his left leg, burned his chest, and made a hole on his right shoulder.

" **WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"**

It bellowed at him as flaming tendrils erupted from the ground and circled them.

Saitama panted, falling to his knees with blood dripping from his wounds.

This situation was quite dangerous, to be honest.

He could die any second.

Yet…

"Heh…"

Yet, he was smiling.

It was not a feral smile.

It was not an arrogant smile.

It's a smile of pure joy, for an enemy that could match him had finally appeared.

"Bring it on!"

The instant he shouted that challenge, the flaming tendrils instantly closed in on him. Saitama immediately jumped, nearly avoiding a would-be fatal attack and delivered a powerful punch towards the monster's face.

" **OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"**

The monster staggered, its head was blown away by Saitama's punch. Even so, it didn't stop its assault as it swiped at him with its hand.

Saitama quickly put up his guard. Still, he was blasted onto the ground.

Saitama lied on the ground, but suddenly he stood up.

"Heh… You won't go down quietly, huh?" Saitama spat out blood, grinning as he saw the head that he had punched regenerating almost instantly.

With a defiant roar, the monster began charging its beams once again as even more flaming tendrils erupted from the ground.

"…"

There was no need for words to describe this feeling.

Saitama dodged the tendrils as he ran towards the monster. Two came from his left, but he punched them. Ten came from his right, but he immediately somersaulted, landed on the middle tendril, and continued running toward the monster while punching the incoming attacks.

Then, fifty shot towards his back. He punched them fifty times.

Then, five hundred. He punched them five hundred times

Then, a thousand. Those, too, he managed to destroy.

But then, two thousand.

And then, five thousand.

Ten thousand.

Fifty thousand.

One hundred thousand.

One million.

Fifty million.

Five hundred million.

In the end, more than one billion flaming tendrils were coming at him. He couldn't dodge all of them, so he had to parry with his fists and kicked those that his fist couldn't reach. He sacrificed his offensive powers thanks to the injuries he now sustained, and his breathing became ragged as he was barely able to take a proper breath in the ongoing onslaught.

Still, he smiled.

Even as injuries kept piling on, with some could be considered near fatal, the look on his face was the most alive he ever had.

 **THUMP**

"This is it," Saitama thought. His heart was racing. His blood was pumping. His muscles were contracting. And his heart was screaming from the thrill of battle.

Saitama finally arrived near the monster. He and the monster exchanged look, they both recognized each other as 'worthy opponent.'

The monster fired its beams, yet Saitama, with the same smile he had since the battle started, clenched his fists tightly.

"This is what I'm looking for!" Saitama excitedly yelled as he fearlessly charged head on towards the incoming beams.

ooo

 **BAM**

Manaka curiously tilted her head. "What's that sound?" Manaka thought while sipping her milk. Honestly, and she was even having a really excellent breakfast time while listening to music on the radio before that damn sound ruined the mood.

Manaka stood up and traced the origin of that noise. It came from the third floor, where Saitama's room was located.

Which mean…

Manaka quickly ran upstairs, but on the second floor, she stopped as her eyes were glued to a large hole on the ceilings right below Saitama's room.

"Meh, whatever," Manaka shrugged her shoulders. It's not like she had to pay for the damages that she or her Servant might incur during their stay.

She briefly wondered, though, just what in the world was that Baldy was doing that he made a hole in the floor?

Her question didn't linger for long for she knew she would get her answer soon enough as she stared at the door of Saitama's room.

Without any care in the world (or to the owner of the property for that matter) and with a sausage in her mouth, Manaka kicked the door of Saitama's room open.

"Herhant! Hat hid who ho? (th: Servant! What did you do?)" Manaka yelled with a muffled voice.

What greeted her was…

"GOD DAMNIT! ANOTHER DREAAAAAAAAAAMMM!"

A Baldy, who was kneeling on all fours while screaming in frustration.

Manaka did not know what happened to him while he was asleep, or what kind of dream he had. What she did know was that she couldn't hold back her laughter anymore.

"Aha….ahahahahaahahaahahahahahahaha~!" Manaka laughed so hard that she started crying. Unfortunately, because of the sight in front of her, she totally forgot that she still had a large chunk of sausage in her mouth.

The consequences?

"Geho! Geho geho geho!" Manaka began coughing with a strange noise and started hitting her chest. It was nothing but a futile effort, however, as the sausage was stuck in her throat and not her chest.

Manaka couldn't stop coughing. She desperately tried to get the sausage off her throat, or even swallowed it, but nothing worked.

The result?

Two idiots were kneeling on all fours where one was screaming with frustration, and the other was coughing with life on the line.

ooo

"Servant, let me say it again. I owe you my life, thank you," Manaka gratefully thanked Saitama as they sat on the dining table.

"Aah…yeah…" Saitama replied without much enthusiasm.

After the…'accident' as some might say was resolved 'peacefully' and without further 'complication,' the Master and the Servant quietly moved to the dining table.

Except it wasn't resolved peacefully, and there were lots of further complication from the 'accident.'

Firstly, how Manaka was still alive when she was on the verge of death due to suffocation?

Well…Saitama smacked her on the back, causing her to throw up the sausage that was stuck in her throat.

As a reward for saving her, and in an attempt to lift up his spirit, Manaka had offered to give him five hundred thousand yen for him to buy anything he wanted.

It didn't work, as Saitama's mood still remained low.

"…." Manaka sipped her milk while glancing at Saitama with one eye closed. He remained sluggish, and instead of eating he just playing around with his food.

Manaka heaved a heavy sigh.

"Stop sulking, will you? A dream is just a dream. It'd be awkward for me if you're stuck on images that your brain produces in your sleep," Manaka passively said to Saitama.

Unexpectedly, Saitama was staring at her like she was some sort of an idiot. "What are you talking about? I'm not sulking because of that dream."

"You're not?"

"I'm not."

"Then what's with the lack of spirit?"

"Oh…it's…" Saitama pressed a button on the remote, and the TV changed channel. He then pointed at a commercial that was playing on TV. "…That…you see…"

 **[LIMITED TIME! UNTIL 10 A.M THIS MORNING ONLY EVERY PRODUCT IS LESS THAN HALF THE PRICE!]**

The TV was playing a discount commercial of bread and milk.

Manaka absentmindedly stared at the commercial with an opened jaw, and not realizing that the milk in her mouth was spilling out.

She then turned her head to see the clock and saw what time it was.

'09:40.'

She then turned to look at Saitama, still with that absentminded expression on her face.

With the milk on her mouth had gone completely (well, it's more like all of it had spilled on the table), Manaka shakily pointed a finger at the TV. "For real?" Manaka was barely able to mutter her question due to the shock she received.

Saitama nodded, not noticing the internal crisis that his Master faced. "Yeah."

Still shakily pointing her finger, Manaka repeated her question again. "That's what troubling you?"

"Is there anything else I should feel troubled with?" Saitama asked with a raised eyebrow.

"…Y-…." Manaka's whole body began trembling, her face was red, and steam came from her head. "You stupid Baldy! I worried about you for nothing!" Manaka angrily yelled.

Seeing her outburst of anger, Saitama simply sipped his tea, put it down, and said, "Sorry about that," without sounding apologetic.

The aloof response caused Manaka to snap. "I see how it is. Very well, then. Servant, you can forget about all those discounts and bargains, for I will not give you any money to spend," Manaka smugly told him.

Instead of being angry or protesting at her, Saitama simply picked his nose, and said, "Huh. Guess I have to get a part-time job, then."

"…" Manaka covered her face with her hands. She didn't even want to think about the possibility that a Servant, especially her Servant, was doing a part-time job to get money to buy sales.

"Is that all you want to say? Can I wash my face now?" Saitama asked.

Manaka no longer had any strength to do anything aside from a slight nod of her head.

Saitama headed to the bathroom, not realizing that something had been done to his magnificently slick and shiny bald head by the little girl.

Until he saw his reflection in the mirror.

Saitama stared at the mirror. But the thing that his eyes focused on was not his reflection, but something that resembled a soccer ball.

"The fuck is this?!" Saitama's face was like someone who had just found out his precious thing was broken by someone. With a runny nose and teeth gritted hard enough that it could easily crush a diamond, Saitama grabbed the mirror, trying to convince himself that his eyes were playing tricks on him.

Unfortunately, it was real.

His head…had been painted into a soccer ball.

With blacks and whites covering his head, there was zero doubt that it could be anything else.

His veins bulging from anger, head rigidly turned to look at the dining room.

It was obvious who the culprit was.

After all, there was only one other person aside from him in this villa.

With gritted teeth and bloodshot eyes, Saitama stood beside Manaka.

"Uuh…? Do you need something?"

Saitama quickly pointed at his head.

"Wanna explain about this?"

…

…

…

"Oh, that," Manaka giggled. "Artistic, is it not? I used permanent markers to draw it so it'd be forever preserved on that head of yours," Manaka proudly boasted.

Anger was no longer the proper word to describe what Saitama was feeling. It was like…yes; it was like those times when he had to battle those wretched mosquitos.

"Do you realize what the hell you've done?! I can't go out there with his head!" Saitama raged, pointing at his soccer ball-like of a head.

Manaka calmly stared at him, unfazed by his anger. Calmly, she went to a closet, found what she sought, and threw it to Saitama.

"There. Don't complain anymore," Manaka said, snickering slightly.

In Saitama's hands were a sponge and a cleaning brush.

Not understanding what he should do with these objects, Saitama questioningly looked at Manaka.

"Use those to clean your head. Good luck cleaning it before evening, since we'll be going out around eight tonight," Manaka informed him, still snickering from joy at seeing his priceless expression.

"Wait. With this? And we're going out tonight?" Saitama asked with a slightly horrified face.

"Yep, that's why…" Manaka put on a very sweet smile as she said to him, "I think it's better if you start brushing it now~." Manaka stood up, wanting to visit a certain temple before tonight's confrontation. "By the way," she turned back to address Saitama. "Since now I know it's pointless to explain to you my plans for tonight, I'll just come to get you later." And with that, Manaka left the Baldy to take care of his problem on his own.

…

…

…

"T-that bitch...!" Saitama inwardly screamed; cross-popping veins covered his soccer ball-like head as he watched the little girl leaving without taking responsibility.

ooo

Deep in the manor of Tohsaka family, especially in one particular room, the atmosphere had been unusually tense and dangerous.

It came from a golden-armoured Servant who was sitting on his throne, with a jar of wine on the small table beside him.

Archer wasn't pleased.

There was no smirk nor did he display his usual haughty attitude.

All there was was a scornful scowl.

The reason was simple.

"Tokiomi, have you found those rats that dare intrude my sanctuary?" Archer asked. It sounded more like he demanded the answer from Tohsaka Tokiomi. As he took a sip of his precious wine, the golden Servant felt nothing but disdain towards the two rats that dared to not only trespass on his domain but also destroyed three of his treasures.

Tokiomi shook his head, apologetically bowing his head. "Forgive me, my King. It has proven to be somewhat difficult for us to trace them to their base. Rats though they may be, it appears they do possess the adequate sets of skill to elude our eyes," Tokiomi humbly said.

Archer's scowl deepened. "Do they?" he asked with venom-filled voice. "Or is it you who is utterly incompetent, Tokiomi?" Archer spat, causing Tokiomi to flinch from the accusation.

If Tokiomi felt anything from Archer's insult, he didn't show it. In fact, he merely bowed his head further, showcasing his humility towards the prideful Servant.

"My deepest apologies, my King."

Archer clicked his tongue. His annoyance had just increased three folds.

"Enough. Get out of my sight," Archer dismissed with a wave of his hand. "The same goes for the two of you. I'll overlook your transgression this one time, but should you ever eavesdrop on me again, mutts…don't expect to be alive by then." Archer shot a glare towards the people who were eavesdropping from behind the wall.

ooo

Kirei smirked as he listened to the threat the golden Servant made to him. Even his threat was boisterous, as expected of the prideful King.

There were no emotions behind that smirk, however.

He only did it because he thought it was the most appropriate response to the warning from the golden Servant

The other person who was hidden near him didn't share the same sentiment.

A tall, slender woman with a curvy figure and a long purple hair that was tied into a ponytail walked out of the shadow. Had it not for the skull shaped mask that she wore, people would undoubtedly be attracted to her just from her figure alone, especially since she wore a skin-tight black leather outfit that further emphasized her figure.

Reacting indifferently to the presence of the woman, Kirei turned to her. "Is there a problem?" Kirei asked.

"We have found her," the woman replied.

Kirei's eyes widened slightly. She had his full attention by now. "I see. Where is she now?" Kirei asked. He lost every trace of his earlier expression as he put on a more serious one.

"She's heading towards Ryuudoji temple. It doesn't appear she brings her companion with her," the woman informed.

"How unfortunate. I wish to see the person who managed to destroy Archer's treasures," Kirei mused, smiling darkly.

"Your order, Master," the woman asked.

"Eliminate her," Kirei replied without hesitation. "We do not need outsiders meddling in this War. Take care of her as swiftly as possible."

The woman bowed her head as she disappeared into the darkness. "It shall be done."

Kirei glanced at the spot where the woman was, before walking away immediately, least he incurred the wrath of the King.

ooo

"I wish you a Merry Christmas~, I wish you a Merry Christmas~. I wish you Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year~," Manaka sang as she jumped around the forest around Ryuudouji Temple.

Then, she stopped and a smile so wide it almost split her face appeared.

"A good song, is it not? Amongst the many traditional kinds of music that I have listened to, this version of Christmas Carol is one of my favorites~," Manaka informed with a somewhat nostalgic look in her eyes. "Not that any of you would understand its significance and impact. After all, it was composed in England eight to nine century after your death," Manaka explained. She then twirled around twice, before stopping and bending her upper body backward. "Mind letting me see your many facets, Assassin? I know there are nine of you surrounding me from every direction~," Manaka asked with a sickly sweet voice.

The nine beings that she called 'Assassin' twitched.

Not because she knew of them, but because she 'noticed' them.

As a Class, Assassin was supposed to have been bestowed the highest-ranking Present Concealment skill amongst all the Servants. Also, while their skill rank fell short of the highest EX rank, they knew it would be impossible for humans to detect them as their rank stood at A+.

Even so, the nine cloaked figures with the skull masks felt their presences were completely visible to this girl's eyes.

As the 'facets' of Assassin focused their sight on their target, a bad feeling started to build up at the back of their mind.

Something about this girl didn't feel right.

It wasn't about her personality or her presence.

That girl, instead of a human, she was more similar to a mirror that showed everything about the person who was staring at her.

"Muu~, you don't want to show me?" Manaka pouted, putting up a cutesy attitude.

In response to her question, knives shot towards her.

The smile that was on Manaka's face turned into a sadistic grin as tentacles shot out from her shadow, parrying the knives away.

"!" Assassins were taken aback, not from seeing what the girl had done, but from seeing those black tentacles that had shot out from her shadow.

If there was actually such a thing as 'evil', then without a doubt those tentacles were 'evil'.

That was the impression that those tentacles gave to them.

Just by watching those tentacles wriggling around, Assassin reflexively put up their guards and immediately regarded the girl as a very dangerous target.

"You don't have to put up your guards~, these won't hurt you…if I don't command it." Manaka playfully caressed one of the tentacles. Her eyes were glinting with madness. "Let me see it~, come on~. I know how each one of you looks, but even so I still want to see it with my own eyes~."

However, as she had expected, murderous intent blanketed the spot where they stood instead.

This, too, was a fine development.

After all, she already knew it would turn out like this.

And she knew how it would end.

"Pity~, I was thinking of sparing some of you if you complied with my wish~," Manaka said, putting up a fake sad face. Then, her face turned blank and emotionless, as her eyes showed a glint of madness again. "So be it~. Happy meal time everyone~," Manaka cheerfully declared as hundreds of black tentacles and tendrils started hunting and 'devouring' the 'faces' of Assassin.

ooo

"!" The female in tight black suit gasped as she lost connection with nine of her 'self' that were tasked to take care of their designated target. She subconsciously clenched her fists as a single drop of sweat ran behind her masked face.

Sensing her unease, her Master spoke to her as he walked down the corridor.

"I presume you encounter some problems in your mission," the man in a priest outfit, Kirei, stated emotionlessly.

The female Assassin bowed her head shamefully. "The nine that were tasked with eliminating the target…have perished," the female Assassin informed."

"I see…" Kirei muttered without emotion. His eyes, however, showed a slight hint of interest at this news, not that he would let anyone notice it.

"I will send more to deal with her," the female Assassin stated.

Kirei raised his hand, stopping her from doing anything rash. "No, whoever this girl was, she can't be an ordinary Magus if she's able to handle a Servant," Kirei said. "For now…just observe her until we know more about her."

"…Understood. I shall do as you've ordered, Master," the female Assassin complied as her voice and presence then disappeared into the darkness once again.

Kirei looked slightly bemused by this development.

Was she an unknown threat, or a potential chess piece?

Whoever this girl was, Kirei felt he would need to be careful in dealing with her.

Right, just like how he would need to be vigilant in dealing with Emiya Kiritsugu.

ooo

Beneath the house of a certain family, in an underground dungeon so dark where nothing but lights from candles illuminated its passageway, a small female voice sobbed.

It belonged to a young girl not even six years of age, who was surrounded and covered by countless worms the size of an adult's hand.

The worms wriggling around, forcing their way into the young girl, causing her to scream and cry.

She was sobbing as her body was filled with pain that came with being dirtied by the worms.

Even so, even as her body was being defiled, as the pain continued to be inflicted on her, the girl did not once ask for help.

She didn't complain, or even begged for it to be stopped.

She realized from the moment when this hell started that doing such things were nothing but a futile effort.

Rather than wasting her time asking for help that would never come, she'd rather save her energy to endure it.

Or perhaps, it would be a much better option to just let go and loses her mind.

"Sakura…"

It was that voice again.

A deep, somber voice that belonged to an old man of short stature.

Initially, she was afraid of this old man. For her, he was like a creature straight out of a nightmare. But now, after spending some times with him, she was no longer afraid of this man. No, she was no longer able to feel any of her emotions.

"Yes…Ojii-sama," the girl, Sakura, lifelessly replied.

"Take it in you as you would take a breath. Naturally…let it be a part of you."

"Understood, Ojii-sama," Sakura complied, resigning to her fate once again.

Neither of them noticed it.

A small red dot on the centre of the young girl's chest that continued to expand like blood flowing, creating a formation of circles that was similar to the formation of circles on the back of a certain blonde girl's hand.

ooo

"Hmm~, that wasn't nearly enough at all," Manaka complained, pouting in annoyance as she kicked one of Assassin's bodies in the head. The body that she kicked belonged to a short stature Assassin, probably just a head taller than her, with an abnormal arm, where his right arm was almost three times the length of an average adult arm.

The Assassin that she kicked grunted in pain as a result. "D-damn you... What are you? What did you do to us?"

"How rude, asking a lady what she is," Manaka protested. Kneeling so she could see the broken Servant face to face, Manaka grabbed the masked man's masked face with one hand. "Is it not obvious?" Manaka asked as her lips slowly twisted into an insane smile. "I'm a human through and through~."

"A human…?" the short Assassin asked. This must be one of those so-called bad jokes. "No humans…could do that…" Assassin accused with a hoarse voice. "No humans…could 'eat' Servant like you."

"Eh~, it's because I'm hungry~. It takes a lot of od to maintain a stable connection to the planet, and while I went out and consumed some external sources every couple of days, I do want to taste the quality and more importantly…the quantity of Servant's mana," Manaka explained, her eyes glimmering in anticipation.

"…You…don't tell me…" As realization dawned upon Assassin as to the fate of his other 'facets', cold sweat started running on his back.

"Don't worry, it won't hurt. I'll quickly stuff you into my stomach~," Manaka cheerfully told him.

The long-armed Assassin could not even see the moment he was about to be stabbed with those black tentacles. It showed a speed far superior than before, as the girl with the mad eyes smiled deliriously. Immediately, his body was shoved into Manaka's belly, leaving behind nothing in the scene but a dissatisfied Manaka, who stood silently in a pool of blood.

Manaka took a deep breath as she felt the mana from the nine 'facets' of Assassin flowed within her. But, she then had a look of utter disappointment on her face.

"Not enough… That's nowhere near enough!" Manaka yelled, angrily stomping her feet on the ground. Biting her nail, Manaka, for the first time outside from dealing with her simpleton of a Servant, felt truly frustrated. "As I thought, Assassin doesn't have the satisfactory quantity of mana. Maybe I really should aim for Diarmuid, Arturia, or Gilgamesh," Manaka bitterly thought.

It would be difficult to deal with even one of those three Servants, especially Gilgamesh with his arsenal of Noble Phantasms and the Anti-World Noble Phantasm in his possession. As for Arturia, she was in possession of the strongest holy sword in addition to possessing the most outstanding stats among the Servants. As for Diarmuid, she was extremely incompatible with his Noble Phantasm, Gae Dearg, since it was capable of piercing through her Magecraft and severing her magic circuits.

Going after Rider was also an option, but she knew of his Noble Phantasm, and should he decided to use it against her; she would be the one rolling in her grave.

As for Caster and Berserker, they were too much of a risk for her to confront. Not that she didn't feel confident of winning, but against Caster, it would be difficult for her to handle his monsters without a proper backup. As for Berserker, if she aimed for him, she'd risk exposing herself to the head of Makiri family.

She had the option of using her Servant to weaken them, of course, but…after spending a few days with him, her confidence that he could actually be of any use was starting to drop significantly.

ooo

Meanwhile, said simpleton of a Servant was standing in front of a mirror in the bathroom while holding a liquid soap in one hand and a sponge in the other.

He was staring intensely at his head that had been decorated into a soccer ball.

Then, he applied the soap to his head and to the sponge.

Next, he slowly moved his hand that was holding the sponge to his head.

And then…

" **Super Move Serious Series: Serious Scrubbing."**

He scrubbed his head really hard that it created a tornado that ruined the entire bathroom and a portion of the villa.

And thus, at that day, the most useless utilization of super strength and super speed was born.

But, the result?

His bald head returned to its original pristine shiny and slick form that was as beautiful as the highest grade pearl.

Satisfied with his work, Saitama got out of whatever remained of the bathroom and headed to the living room.

"She hasn't returned, huh," Saitama muttered, as he didn't see Manaka anywhere. His eyes were then glued to the table. More precisely, to the small envelope that had his name on it.

'For Saitama: Sorry for your head, please take this as a sign of my apologies.

From Manaka.'

"Okay…" Saitama muttered blankly. He honestly thought she was not going to apologize at all, but it seemed he was wrong. Saitama slowly opened the envelope, and at that moment, his eyes shone as bright as the sun.

The content of the envelope was money.

In total, there was seven hundred thousand yen.

Saitama had the expression of someone who had just won a lottery. He didn't know what to do with all this money.

Should he go buy new clothes?

Or should he buy grocery first?

"Oh well." Saitama threw the envelope away, stuffing the money into his pockets. "Guess I'll have to look for it myself."

And so, Saitama left the villa with bulges on the legs of his yellow jumpsuit pushing the 'middle area', where his bird of fertility and symbol of manliness lied, forward.

His goal right now was to find any bargains in clothing and grocery.

On a side note, from outside perspectives, he totally looked like major pervert who was having a hell of an erection.

ooo

Saber inwardly groaned.

How many times had she sighed now?

She felt that at this rate she would become a grandmother first before she would stop groaning.

Not that she could grow older, for that matter.

She and her Master's wife, Irisviel von Einzbern, had decided to visit Fuyuki bay because of the whimsical wish of Irisviel. To be honest, Saber would rather have Irisviel not loitering around in the open like this during the war, but she didn't have the heart to refuse her wish.

As a result, she now had to be extra vigilant, in case an enemy appeared.

The source of her frustration, on the other hand, was having a lot of fun watching the sea.

"Saber~, don't just stay there~, come and take a look with me~," the white-haired female homunculus, Irisviel cheerfully called while waving her hand.

"Irisviel, please be careful. It would not do if you fell into the ocean and drown," Saber warned with a tinge of concerned in her voice.

"It's fine~, it's fine~," Irisviel assured with a smile.

Saber could only smile wryly at her, still feeling concerned about her safety.

"Hn?" Saber turned around. There was someone else here. She sharpened her senses, trying to deduce if the newcomer was an enemy or civilian, but there was no need for that as the answer came to her by itself.

"…Dude, where the hell am I?" Saitama asked to himself, sweating as it finally dawned on him that he had gotten lost, again.

"…"

"…"

Saber and Irisviel were silent because of different reasons.

Saber was silent out of vigilant.

The newcomer was wearing a yellow jumpsuit and a cape.

Was he a fighter? A Magus? A participant of the Holy Grail War?

Such questions ran in Saber's head, but immediately she doubted them herself.

The reason was the man's plain, unimpressive appearance. Aside from the yellow jumpsuit and the cape, the only other notable feature of the man was his shining bald head that almost blinded her sight.

Maybe her eyes were playing tricks on her, because she could swear a human head, bald or not, could not shine like that.

Noticing that the sun was directly above them, Saber speculated that his head reflected the ray of sun. But that still didn't explain how his head could reflect light.

Anyway, back to the main topic. Saber knew from experience that she shouldn't judge the book by its cover. However, this man truly didn't exude any aura other than simply plain unimpressive.

Irisviel, on the other had, was covering her eyes, blushing slightly at the sight in front of them.

"My, it's still noon, but already…" Irisviel teased.

"Huh?" Saitama's brow twitched.

"Have you drunk aphrodisiac, by any chance?" Irisviel asked.

"Irisviel, what were you talking about?" Saber asked with questioning eyes. Irisviel pointed her finger at the bald man, letting Saber try to figure out the answer herself. Saber followed the direction where Irisviel's finger was pointing, and the moment she laid her eyes upon 'that', she had a murderous look in her eyes.

Saitama, noticing the dirty look that the blonde-haired person in black suit sending to him, quietly said, "What?"

"You…insolent fool! What do you think you're showing to a lady?!" Saber angrily shouted, stepping forward and delivered a mighty slap towards the bald man.

A slap that hurt her hand, instead.

"Kuh!" Saber held her hand, gritting her teeth as the stinging pain was all over her palm.

Irisviel was unable to comprehend this scene.

Was Saber grimacing in pain after slapping a human? Even if she didn't have the greatest physical strength among the Servants, Saber was still a Servant, and of Saber Class as well, the Class that boasted excellent status in every category.

And for that Saber to grimace in pain from slapping a human? Unthinkable.

Wait.

Why did she automatically consider this man as a human?

What if he was an enemy Servant?

That would explain why he could withstand Saber's strength.

Wanting to analyze him more, Irisviel looked up at the man, but was surprised to see him look really pissed off.

"You looking for a fight?" Saitama asked. He really didn't want to deal with this at the moment, but if this crazy girl wanted to cause trouble for him, he would smack her. He was about to lightly smack her shoulder, but then he realized they might be of some use to him. "Oi," Saitama's face inched closer toward Saber's.

"Don't come closer!" Saber yelled. She was trying to gain some distance, but Saitama held her in place by placing a hand on her shoulder. "What's with this unnatural strength? I can't move!" Saber warily thought.

So he was an enemy. That was what Saber and Irisviel thought.

The man brought up his other hand, causing Saber to prepare to don her battle armour and summon her sword.

But the next thing he said almost made them fell.

"Dude, do you know where's the nearest toilet?" Saitama asked, sweating as he put his other hand on his stomach.

…

…

…

…

…

"Pardon?"

"You deaf or what? Do you know if there's a toilet nearby?" Saitama repeated. He was starting to lose his patience, mainly because his bladder was also starting to lose patience.

At this rate, he might have to take a piss on the road or the bush.

Well, it was his own fault anyway.

After he had left the villa, he wandered around looking for any bargains to spend his newfound wealth on.

He found it. A bargain that was quite unique (in the sense that it was completely worthless) for no one was buying the products

 **'Milk Coffee only 30% of the original price.'**

It was too good to be true, but it was real. And so, Saitama, without reading the information on the bottle, decided to buy all of them. He could put them in the refrigerator and drink one or two every day. Not a bad deal in his opinion.

And he'd also done an excellent service to the store since it looked like no one else wanted to buy it for some strange reasons.

King once told him, that he needed to read the information on contracts or products for it could prove to be vital to him.

And in this case, only after he had bought exactly forty-three bottles of milk coffee, and gulped down a bottle that he realized one crucial fact.

The expiry date was today.

Saitama had a look that could only be described as 'stunningly attractive' for all the wrong reasons.

At that moment he decided to finish all the coffees, knowing it would be a waste of money if he didn't drink all of them.

He managed to drink it all, but, as a result, his 'personal dam' was at its maximum capacity.

Saitama ran around, trying to find a toilet, but as if the world itself had a grudge against him, every toilet he visited was occupied.

Saitama's reaction upon realizing the same thing had happened again?

"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCKKKKKKK!"

Which basically summed up his despair, the reality of the situation, and the condition of his 'personal dam' that was about to overflow.

He ran around, trying to find an empty toilet, but found himself lost instead.

Which led to the current situation.

On a side note, he could actually run back to the villa. If only he remembered about it.

"…" Saber silently put down her guard and pointed her finger towards the west. "Over there, seven hundred meters from here, there's a public toilet," Saber informed.

To Saitama, right now, the girl in front of him looked very angelic compared to earlier.

Raising his hand as a sign of gratitude, Saitama said, "Thanks, I'll pay you back one day, unknown girl and unknown lady." He then started running, leaving behind a baffled Saber and a giggling Irsiviel.

"What a strange, but amusing fellow, don't you agree, Saber?" Irisviel asked.

"Irisviel, how did he know my gender when I never mentioned it even once?" Saber asked.

"Ah…" Irisviel's expression became stiff. Noticing the solemn moon on Saber, Irisviel put a hand on her chin and tried to make a joke to cheer Saber up. "Perhaps his bald head is a divination tool?" Irisviel said.

"I hope that was the case," Saber replied with a hardened expression, completely missed Irisviel's joke.

Irisviel blinked a few times, but then she covered her mouth and started giggling. "Ufu…fufufufufufu. Saber, you really are…ufufu,"

"W-what? What did I say? Why are you laughing at me like that?" Saber asked, slightly bewildered at Irisviel's response.

"I-it's nothing…ufufufu…"

"Kuh… L-let's go back. We need to prepare for tonight's battle," Saber reminded with a faint blush on her face.

ooo

As the night settled in, deep within that grotesque darkness, Sakura was crying.

No, she herself wasn't sure if she was crying or not.

It felt like it had been ages since the last time tears came out of her eyes.

Perhaps droplets of water from the ceiling caused the water stains on her face and not her tears.

How long had it been?

She used to believe that there was a hero who would come to save her if she was ever in danger.

However, slowly that belief was broken apart by the cruel reality.

Even uncle Kariya, who she used to think was like a hero, was nothing but a helpless man who didn't have the power to save her.

"Sakura…we will finish it here for today. Tomorrow, at the dawn of the day, we will continue the ritual," the old man, who was standing on a stone platform far above her, said.

"…Yes…Ojii-sama," Sakura nodded.

"Good, now put on your clo…" the old man trailed off as his eyes caught a glimpse of red-coloured seals that was glowing faintly in the middle of Sakura's bare chest. "That's…command seals? Impossible. Sakura is chosen to be a Master? But, all the Servants have been taken!"

The old man then remembered.

There was a unique Class of Servant that was not part of the seven Classes that he had created.

It was a Class that was summoned only during the third Holy Grail War.

"Can it be? Has Avenger awoken?"

The seals on Sakura's chest glowed brighter until the pinkish red light illuminated the entire dungeon.

Once the light died, in front of Sakura stood a slender man with blonde hair, sharp and handsome face, and silver armored arms.

The man slowly opened his eyes, revealing inhuman black eyes.

He analyzed his surrounding, taking in every detail down to the miniscule level, before turning around to see the one who had summoned him.

The man's eyes widened in shock as he saw a naked young girl with worms wriggling into her body.

Immediately, the man tried to pull out the worms. Although, he managed to take out some, he failed to prevent the rest from entering the girl's body.

Glaring at the worms in his hands as it tried to enter his body instead, but failed, the man crushed the worms with his armored hands. He analyzed the girl's condition using his sensors, but what he saw made his eyes flinched slightly and his right hand unconsciously balled into a fist.

He then turned to glare at the only other occupant of this wretched place, who was scrutinizing him with his black and almost hollow eyes.

"Boy, are you a Servant?" the old man questioned. It sounded more like a statement to the man's ears, however.

"…Servant?" The man asked back, failing to understand what part of him looked like a servant. "I don't know what you're talking about, but old man, I do have a question of my own," the man stated, as his eyes began to glow.

"Hoh? And what is it that you wish to ask?" the old man asked, sneering at the man. He didn't know what a Servant was? Nonsense. He was undoubtedly summoned by a Servant summoning circle, even though there was no formal ritual to summon him.

Gesturing at the young girl with his head, the man asked, "Did you do this?"

Sakura, confused at this new turn of event, could only blankly stare as the newcomer fearlessly faced her grandfather. "…Uh…" Sakura tried to warn the man that he couldn't possibly win against her grandfather, that he would be killed. The man noticed her fear, but instead of worrying about himself, the man gave her a reassuring smile.

This Servant was either very brave or very foolish, the old man mused. Feeling curious, he decided to see which one he was. "And if I did, what are you going to do? Sakura was entrusted to me, so it is my right to groom her as I see fit," the old man stated with a matter of fact tone.

"Don't you realize you're harming her?" the man asked, his tone becoming more dangerous than before.

"I do, but so what?" the old man asked, shrugging. "Are there any problems with doing as I like to my property?"

The man's eyes were now filled with anger. However, it was focused, controlled, tempered. It didn't consume him nor clouded his mind. "...You're rotten to the core…" the man stated.

The old man chuckled, amused at the same insult that had been repeatedly thrown at him for hundreds of years. "Not the first time I hear it. As I said, what are you going to do?" the old man asked again.

"It's obvious. I'm saving her from you," the man replied without hesitation.

Sakura looked at him like he was insane. It was impossible. There was no way she could be saved. He was just being stupid and suicidal.

However, she couldn't say it.

The determination in the man's eyes prevented her from rejecting his effort.

"Oh? But Sakura doesn't want to be saved, isn't that right, Sakura?" the old man asked with a hollow smile.

The man turned to face the girl, Sakura."…Young girl, what do you want? Do you want to stay here…or do you wish to come with me?" the man asked with a compassionate voice.

"…I…" Sakura tried to reject him, to tell him to stay away from her. That she did not deserve to be saved. That he couldn't save her. That no one could save her.

"Come here…Sakura," the old man gestured, extending his wrinkled hand as his hollow eyes stared straight at her.

"…I…!" Sakura tried to reject the man. Yet, her voice didn't come out. She felt it stuck in her throat.

Why was it so difficult for her to say it?

She only needed to say it for her to lessen her pains and for him to go away and not suffered because of her.

Distraught that she still had some emotions left in her, Sakura grabbed her aching head that was unable to cope with the stress caused by her conflicting desires. Sakura bit her lips until she drew blood from it. She was trying to bury her emotions deep inside once again, but the warm touch on her head caused them to bounce back immediately.

Sensing her distress, the man put his hand on Sakura's head. As Sakura looked up to him, the man wasn't sure what he should say to her, and so he only said what he thought his teacher would say in this situation.

"What do you want, Sakura?" the man asked, calling her name for the first time. The man was different than her grandfather. He didn't demand an answer from her, he only wanted to know her desires.

Sakura opened her mouth, wanting to yell at him that this wasn't his business, that he shouldn't stick his nose where it didn't belong.

Even so, she couldn't do it. She couldn't push this man away even though she had just met him less than ten minutes ago.

Her father couldn't save her.

Her big sister couldn't save her.

Her mother couldn't save her.

Her uncle couldn't save her.

That's the belief that she continued to hold until this moment, that no one could possibly save her.

But, she didn't know why. She didn't know why she felt this way.

She didn't know why she felt this man could save her.

Perhaps he could save her.

Perhaps he could do what her father, sister, mother, and uncle couldn't do.

Perhaps…just perhaps. Perhaps he could free her from this hell.

And so, with tears running down her face, Sakura gave her answer.

"I…. I want… I want to go back… I want to go back to Otou-san! I want to feel Okaa-san's warm again! I want to play with Onee-chan again! I don't… I have enough of the pains…!" Sakura answered with slightly broken voice.

"SAKURA!" the old man yelled, enraged at her 'disobedience.'

The man smirked slightly, before glaring again at the old man. "Seems like it's been decided," the man stated.

The old man shook his head. "No, not yet. What makes you think you can take her out of here alive?" he asked mockingly.

"Of course I can. At the very least, even if it costs me this life, I will save her," the man answered with a voice that carried an unyielding feeling of determination.

"Mister…" Sakura murmured.

"Such foolishness..." the old man sighed, disappointed at the 'Servant's' hot-headedness. "Foolish man, let me hear your name, so I can engrave it on your grave and spit on it," the old man demanded.

For a Heroic Spirits, giving out their identities to their enemy was the biggest stupidity they could possibly do. However, if what he said earlier was true, this man didn't even know what a Servant was or that he had been summoned as one.

He could take advantage of this.

He could find the identity of the man, his weaknesses, and destroyed him right here right now.

As the old man thought, the man readily told him his name. "I am a disciple of Caped Baldy. Cyborg of Justice…Genos! You won't do any spitting on my grave, not today nor tomorrow. There's only one fate for you! Incineration!" the man, Genos, declared as he aimed his blasters at the old man.

"…Mister…Genos Onii-san…" Sakura called out the name of the man who stood in front of her, shielding her from her grandfather's eyes.

"Genos?" the old man repeated. The name was foreign to him. He didn't know any Heroic Spirits with that name.

That was as far as the old man could say as the next moment he was incinerated by Genos' heat beam.

Fire erupted in the dungeon courtesy of the heat beam, burning the worms away while Genos picked up a stunned Sakura.

"Hang on tight. We'll get out of here," Genos said.

Sakura nodded, but then her eyes widened in shock and she immediately screamed. "Behind!"

Genos instantly turned his head to see behind him, and standing there was the old man that he had incinerated, alive and well without a single injury.

Jumping back to gain some distance, a confused Genos began analyzing the old man's body composition while holding a terrified Sakura.

If what he saw within Sakura angered her, what he saw within the old man only made him felt disgusted.

"You...that body of yours… You're not a human," Genos stated.

The old man body was made out of worms. No organs, hearts, or even bones.

There were only worms in that body.

"That may be the case, but isn't the same thing could be said about you?" the old man asked with an amused smile. "My worms have failed to infiltrate your body. It was not because you could resist them, but because your body was not made of flesh and blood. It was made of metal, which explained why I failed to leech your life force."

"What do you..." Genos then realized that his feet had been covered with worms. Worms that were trying to enter his body, but couldn't do so.

"Your body lack the magic circuits that can be found in living objects," the old man continued. "Tell me, what are you? Are you actually a golem? A construct that was worshipped and turned into a Heroic Spirit?"

Genos, instead of answering, moved Sakura to his back and aimed his blasters downward.

"…Based on your body composition, I presume the reason you're still alive is because these worms still existed?" Genos asked back.

The old man, at that moment, realized what Genos' plan, and seeing that he was able to shoot out fire from his hands, he might really be able to do it. "Don't you dare!" He immediately sent his worms to attack Genos. Most of the worms turned into a saw-like shape with the ability to cut through solid objects, while the rest began slithering at Genos, trying to bind his movement.

Genos fired a small beam to blast away the worms on his feet, and then he jumped to the ceiling.

Instead of turning around and aimed his attack at the worms, however, Genos began delivering rapid-fire punches to the rock ceiling.

"Hah! Have you lost your mind? Or is it unable to understand the logics of battle to begin with?" the old man mockingly asked.

Genos continued to deliver rapid-fire punches, much to Sakura's puzzlement and the old man's amusement.

 **CRACK**

But, the moment a crack appeared on that thick rock ceiling, the smile on the old man's face faltered.

As realization entered his mind, the old man's face contorted horrifyingly from anger and he ordered his worms to quickly deal with him.

Unfortunately, the worms weren't fast enough. Although they could jump a great height and distance, they were unable to reach Genos from the ground and had to quickly climb the walls.

As he saw the rock ceiling slowly crumbled, Genos then delivered a mighty roundhouse kick that blow apart the rock and created a hole in the roof.

The old man shielded his eyes, but the moment

"Waaaahh…." Sakura could only gasped in amazement. They were flying in the sky. She could see the skyline of Fuyuki, the lights of the building, the stars in the sky, and sceneries that she thought she wouldn't be able to see anymore.

"Don't let go of my back," Genos said. "I'll finish this now."

"Un!" Sakura nodded.

Aiming his blasters towards the hole where they came out from, Genos began charging his beams.

The lines on his silver arms began glowing yellow.

And then it turned orange.

And then it became red.

In the process, his arms started heating up, as thin smoke came out of his arms.

Then, as he felt the energy reached the peak point, Genos looked at the wide-eyed old man, and repeated the word he said to him.

"Incineration."

The massive red beam was fired from his blasters, slamming into the hole and incinerating everything in that dungeon.

It didn't stop there, however, as the ground above it soon lightened up with the same red light and exploded.

The house, the road, the dungeon, everything was now nothing but rubbles.

Genos was able to fire his strongest beam was because he had not detected other life signs aside from the three of them in the vicinity.

That was why he could finish the fight quickly.

If there was another life sign nearby, he definitely had to hold back and change tactics.

Genos let Sakura down from his back, allowing her to observe the outcome of their short battle.

"Ah…" Sakura stared at the destruction as they landed on the roof of a house quite far from where she lived.

He really did it.

This man, Genos Onii-san, really was able to save her.

Tears welled up in her eyes, and she wordlessly hugged the person who had saved her.

"U….waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Sakura began to bawl. Relief, happiness, gratitude, she wanted to express all of them, but she could only cry instead.

Genos, understanding why the girl cried, simply put a hand on her head and silently began caressing her.

Looking back at the wreckage of the battle, Genos could only think back to the conversation with the old man named Zelretch about the powers that were present in this world. While he hadn't properly explained everything to him, Genos now understood the gist of the situation.

"So that was Magecraft? It's almost laughable how weak it was," Genos thought, thinking about the worms that were made out of energy. His reading on the worms didn't recognize them as living creatures, as curiously enough he detected some form of energy making up their very beings.

Genos took out a blank card out of his pocket with the word 'FAKER'.

This card was supposed to trick the world so that it didn't crush him.

But thinking back to his conversation with Zelretch, he felt stupid for complying with the request of such a shady man.

"With this level of power, I doubt any of them could pose a threat to Sensei. So why did that old man say Sensei would need my assistance?" Genos wondered.

ooo

Manaka tapped her left foot impatiently as her eyes were fixated on three things.

The destruction of her base, though granted it was only a small portion of it.

The dozens of watermelons that were stacked into a pyramid.

And the Baldy, who was picking his nose, and paid no attention to her growing anger.

Why was this happening?

She was in a jovial mood after she pleasantly found out that the corruption of Angra Mainyu was steadily growing without going out of control.

Yet when she came back in the evening, she found the Baldy eating watermelon while watching anime...and a giant hole in the house.

She asked him what caused this, and he simply replied with, "Uh…there was a tornado inside the house," while averting his eyes.

She knew he lied. Even without him claiming such a bizarre event actually happened indoors, his expression was a dead giveaway that he was lying.

Manaka slumped to the floor, muttering, "Why are you this hopeless?"

"So you're not?" Saitama asked back.

"I'm not hopeless!" Manaka yelled angrily. Saitama shrugged, but then he threw a small object at her. Manaka caught the object, which turned out to be strawberry milk. Manaka looked at the milk in her hand, and back to Saitama. "What is this?"

Saitama stared at her like she was stupid. "Duh, It's milk," Saitama answered.

"I know that!" Manaka yelled again. She really didn't want to be looked down by him of all people. "I mean, what's your intention giving this to me?"

"You like milk, right? I bought several with me since there was a price cut. Also, you look thirsty," Saitama answered.

Manaka looked at the milk box, and then looked back at Saitama, and looked at the milk box again.

"Hn…"

Manaka turned around, opened the milk, and began drinking it.

Saitama wondered why she needed to turn around, facing the other way just to drink milk.

But if she hadn't done so, then surely he would see the faint blush on her face.

She didn't want to show him any gratitude in case he took it the wrong way.

After she had finished the milk, Manaka began explaining the move that they would make tonight.

"So I just need to weaken the Servant? I don't need to defeat them for now?" Saitama asked for confirmation.

"I doubt you could actually fight all the Servants in one go, much less defeating them," Manaka replied.

"Heh…" Saitama looked impressed for once. Were the Servants really that strong? If they were heroes, maybe not only one but several of them could give him a challenge. Then, Saitama remembered about his confrontation with one of the Servants just the other day. "By the way, I fought with Caster yesterday."

"PFFFFTTT!" Manaka spat and began coughing. Looking at Saitama, she asked, "Y-you fought Caster?"

"Yeah, he was with his Master and a couple of children. He summoned these weird ass monsters, but I still beat them up, though," Saitama explained, looking unimpressed by Caster's powers.

"The you've killed them already?" Manaka asked with a beaming smile.

A smile that was destined to falter the moment she received the reply.

"No. Why should I kill them? They're humans. I just tied them up to a pole and leave a note for the police," Saitama replied.

Manaka was still. She didn't move even an inch. She had even forgotten to take a breath.

"Huh? What's with you? Do you have stomach ache? It's not good for the body if you hold it, you know?" Saitama advised, recounting his own experience of holding 'that' while running through an entire city.

"You…you left them for the police?" Manaka asked again, trying to confirm that she didn't mishear that.

"Yeah."

"Do you know what you've done? That was your one chance of ridding the enemy Servant and his Master!"

"Okay, calm down and try this watermelon," Saitama offered. Manaka instantly snatched one slice of watermelon.

"Besides, modern prisons can't imprison a Servant! And for your information, Servants are no longer humans!" Manaka shouted as she took a bite of the watermelon.

"You sure about that?" Saitama asked.

"Yes! No prisons can-."

"I mean the part where you say they're not humans. Are you sure about that?" Saitama asked again.

"Of course. I'm hundred percent sure about it," Manaka confidently answered.

"How did you know? You're not a Servant, right?" Saitama asked again.

"That's…" Manaka sighed. "Nevermind, you'll just have to confront them yourself and you'll see for yourself," Manaka tiredly said to Saitama.

"Uh-huh."

"All right, we better go now, or we'll miss the show," Manaka said, gesturing to Saitama to follow her.

"Ah, hold on a second."

"What is it now?" Manaka asked.

"Tuna or salmon?" Saitama asked.

"Huh?" Manaka tilted her head, confused by the question.

"I'm hungry so I'm gonna go to the super real fast to buy bento. Should I get tuna or salmon? Which one's tastier here?" Saitama asked for her opinion.

…

…

…

Manaka pinched her nose.

Of all things to ask, he asked something so trivial and unimportant?

Nevertheless, she answered the question.

"Tuna."

"Tuna, is it? Got it. I'll be back in a second!" Saitama reassured, waving his hand as he ran towards the closest supermarket.

…

…

…

Manaka sighed again as she repeated the question that she had been asking for the last couple of days.

"Why did I get him instead of Angra Mainyu?"

ooo

 **End of chapter 4.**

ooo

Preview of Chapter 5

 **First Battle**

"Ooh! Wiseman of the mountain! It's good to see you again!"

"You?! You're a Servant?"

"Saber, did you know him?"

"I've met him earlier, but I never once suspected him to be a Servant."

"Oh, it's the girl from before. Thanks, you're a real life-saver."

"Tell me! Which Servant are you!?"

"Me? I…I'm…"

"What's wrong? Afraid that it would expose your weakness?"

"I'm Servant…"

"Ei! Stop with the squirming and tell us your Class!"

"I'm Servant Baldy…"

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

"Huh? (x4)"


	6. Chapter 5

**All credits go to the author, Arcreed.**

 **Disclaimers: I do not own the characters or franchises in this story.**

 **ooo**

Chapter 5

 **First Battle**

ooo

Atop the roof, on a building near a yellow crane, a man with slightly rugged appearance inhaled his cigarette deeply.

The man knew this might as well be his last chance to peacefully enjoy the taste of tobacco before the incoming storm that would hit the entire Fuyuki.

And by storm, he meant the Holy Grail War.

A War involving seven Masters and seven Servants, with the omnipotent wish-granting device, the Holy Grail, as the ultimate prize.

The man, Emiya Kiritsugu, was one of the Masters who sought the Holy Grail.

To achieve his objective, he had prepared to sacrifice everything.

Everything. For the sake of world peace.

Kiritsugu tossed his cigar, eyes focused on the dock far away from where he stood.

He couldn't see it with naked eyes, but over there, his wife, Irizviel, and his Servant, Saber, were on standby, waiting for the enemy Servants to come.

He had sent out an encrypted challenge to the Masters of the Holy Grail.

The question was, how many, if any, were foolish enough to accept it?

In a one-on-one battle, he doubted Saber would be bested by other Servants. But if that moment were to occur, he had prepared a backup plan to deal with it.

Besides, the purpose of this encounter was to gauge the Masters, their cunnings, their knowledge, and their strategies.

Kiritsugu took out his sniper rifle from its bag, adjusting the scope, and aimed the barrel towards the dock.

It was blurry, but he could see his wife and Servant on the dock.

"Need more adjustment…"

Adjusting the scope, this time, he could see them very clearly.

Kiritsugu smirked.

There was a movement near them, something that Saber noticed as well.

"They've come. Now, which one is it?"

Soon, he got his answer for a man wielding twin spears, one gold, and one red, materialized from thin air. The man was slim yet had a well-toned body, and his face fitted perfectly with the words 'good-looking man.' However, there were no wasted movements in his gesture, there was no opening for even experienced warriors to take advantage of.

"His weapons…I see, so Lancer it is."

Saber began exchanging greetings with the man who she suspected to be Lancer, making Kiritsugu frown.

Knights and their honours…

Kiritsugu clicked his tongue, unpleased to see such an opportunity got wasted from exchanging pleasantries.

If it were him, the moment Lancer opened his mouth, he would initiate the attack, giving him no room to act.

Alas, these were the kinds of people these so-called 'knights' were.

Saber took a step back and began her battle with Lancer, something that she should have done the moment he materialized.

Kiritsugu looked at Irisviel through the scope. He doubted any harm would befall her when Saber was there, but still he felt a tinge of concern for his wife.

This wasn't like him. To be concerned about a woman while in a job, maybe he really had gotten rusty.

More important than that…

"Now where's Lancer's Master?"

Wondering curiously, Kiritsugu started looking for the man through his sniper scope when a munching sound came from his right.

Quickly rolling away from his spot, Kiritsugu aimed his sniper rifle at the source of the sound.

The source of the sound was…

"Oh. Are you watching those Servants as well?"

A bald man in a yellow jumpsuit was sitting on top of a water tank.

"…"

Kiritsugu wasn't sure how he should react to this new unknown.

That bald man in a yellow jumpsuit, who also wore a white cape, and red gloves and boots, was swinging his feet playfully as he stared down on Kiritsugu. Overall, it appeared he either cosplaying as an old children's show hero, or he was really posing as a hero.

But, that was not what stood out the most from the man.

It was that bored expression he had.

From his comment, Kiritsugu presumed he was watching the battle between Saber and Lancer as well.

How he could see that far, he had no idea, but he was sure of one thing.

This man had to be eliminated. Boundary fields had been deployed in the area around the dock to prevent ordinary people from noticing the fight. Magi and Servants could detect it, but that was the whole point of deploying these fields. It was there to draw the enemies to them.

Kiritsugu aimed his rifle at the man, who was still munching something. The moment the bald man noticed the barrel of his rifle pointing at his head, Kiritsugu pulled the trigger.

BANG

The bullet soared through the air silently thanks to the silencer, and spinning towards the forehead of the bald man.

If this man was a Servant, Kiritsugu knew the bullet would not injure the man in any way. Servants were said to be immune to modern weaponry; this might be a good chance to confirm if it were true. If this man were a Master, this shot would most likely eliminate him on the spot unless he had set up some kind of protection. If he was just some ordinary Magus, who happened to stumble upon this War, then too bad for him, he just had to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

There was also the possibility that he was looking to make a contract with one of the Servants should they lose their master, which just added to the pros of taking him out as soon as possible.

Things didn't turn out as he expected, however.

The bullet didn't connect with the man's flesh, Magecraft, or weapon.

"Oi, what the hell? Why are you shooting at someone who's eating crackers?"

The man had caught the bullet with his fingers while looking visibly pissed.

Kiritsugu paused, lowering his rifle slowly as the man flicked the bullet with his fingers, before crushing it.

He was unable to believe it, but this man had caught a bullet from a sniper rifle. Regaining his composure, Kiritsugu clicked his tongue.

Now then…how should he proceed?

He could try running from this man, but for someone who was fast enough to catch a bullet, it might be difficult for him to escape from this man.

He should have brought grenades and flashbangs with him.

He would probably die. This man would probably kill him.

At least, he now knew for sure that this man was not a human.

Most likely, he was also a Servant.

Kiritsugu waited for the man to make his move.

Yet, he remained seated.

The man, instead of going after Kiritsugu, picked up something on his right.

"That's…"

There was no doubt about it.

In his hands was a large bento box.

Why was he eating a bento box on top of a water tank?

Couldn't he find someplace more, you know, appropriate to eat?

The bald man, noticing the sharp glare that Kiritsugu was giving him, hid his bento with a disgusted look on his face.

"Dude, don't lust over my bento. If you want tuna, go buy it yourself. There should be a few left in the convenience store."

The man sounded quite repulsed by the thought that his food was being drooled over by him.

Kiritsugu felt like shooting at the man's face until he could not say such idiotic lines ever again.

However, he held back. Such actions weren't befitting of him, the man who was known as a Magus Killer.

He aimed his sniper rifle at the man again, though.

No, no, no. It wasn't because the bald man made idiotic comments about him again, but because he suddenly stood up and was staring with a slightly impressed look on his face at the direction of the dock.

Warily, Kiritsugu looked in the direction of the dock with his scope.

He bit his lips, trying to contain his frustration.

There were more enemy Servants now.

One was a Servant clad in black armour who was aggressively attacking a Servant in gold, the Berserker Servant of Matou Kariya.

Another one was a Servant clad in golden armour who was fending off the mad Servant attacks, the Archer Servant of Tohsaka Tokiomi.

The last one was a Servant who rode a large chariot. No doubt about it, he was the Rider of this War.

And add to that the Servant of the Lance, Servant of Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald; the only ones missing were Assassin and Caster.

Correction, the only Servant missing was Caster.

Assassin had already been killed by Archer.

"Ok, time to join the fray."

The bald man said to himself, putting away the empty bento box into a plastic bag.

His words only cemented Kiritsugu's suspicion that the man was indeed a Servant.

"You…are you Caster?"

"If you're looking for Caster, I beat him up and handed him over to the cops yesterday. You should go ask them where they jailed him and his Master".

"You did what?"

Kiritsugu was perplexed at the bald man's words, more so with his nonchalant attitude towards it. This man beat up Caster and handed him over to the police? What was he thinking? Handing over a Servant and his Magus Master to normal people would warrant their death!

No, more importantly, the man clearly said he had beaten Caster. That could only mean the man wasn't Caster.

If so, what was he?

Was he not a Servant?

Maybe the man was lying to hide his identity.

Many different questions floated in his mind, but then the bald man raised his hand towards him in a somewhat nonchalant gesture.

"Alright, see you later. Since you're a Master, we might see each other again soon. Ah, but before that, you might want to be careful with that guy over there. He's been observing you for a while. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think he's got the hots for you."

Pointing at the edge of the steel crane with his thumb, the bald man warned Kiritsugu with a slightly pale face.

And then, the man jumped up to the night sky.

Kiritsugu's eyes tried to follow the bald man, but his eyes soon couldn't see even a trace of him anymore.

"What a ridiculous jumping power. I was right all along…he must be a Servant."

That meant he was indeed Caster. That was the only Servant left that he had not seen in this War.

Still, for a Servant who supposedly had the lowest physical attributes, that man showed surprisingly high physical prowess.

Kiritsugu felt stupid for believing the bald man's words even for a second. He felt like slapping himself on the head.

But how did he know he was a Master?

Kiritsugu was sure he had hidden his left hand, where his command seals were located, under his sleeve.

In addition to that, in this darkness it would be tough for anyone to notice his Command Seals.

Unless he had an extraordinarily sharp sight.

Also, there was the matter of the person whom Caster said was observing him. He didn't trust him, but it wouldn't hurt to check it.

Looking through the lens of the scope, what he saw made his eyes widened for a second, before turning into a hardened gaze.

Kiritsugu took out his walkie-talkie and called to the person at the end of the line.

"Maiya."

"Yes?"

"Assassin is alive."

ooo

"You cur!"

Archer fired another volley of projectiles from the ripples behind him as the black-clad Servant advanced wielding two of the weapons that he had shot earlier.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!"

Roaring defiantly, Berserker destroyed the projectiles until nothing was left of his weapons.

"Know your place, mongrel!"

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

Archer fired a lot more projectiles than before towards Berserker, while Berserker, wielding a pole as his weapon, charged towards Archer.

Their weapons collided; causing an explosion that blew the nearest containers away.

"Such power…!"

Lancer marvelled at the fierce exchange between the two Servants, while shielding his eyes and the lady in white from the dust cloud. She might be an enemy Master, but his honour be damned if he let a civilian got harmed in a battle between Servants.

"Rider! Let's get out of here!"

The Master of Rider, a boy known as Waver Velvet pleaded fearfully while grabbing the Servant's mantle.

Rider just patted his back, flashing him an excited grin.

"What are you talking about, boy? When things are this exciting, you should laugh instead!"

"Y-you idiot! Don't put me in the same league as you!"

To his frustration, Rider only laughed merrily. Waver was about to protest even further when his eyes noticed a peculiarity.

A peculiarity that was noticed by everyone.

Rider stopped laughing as soon as he noticed the strange occurrence.

Saber stepped forward, standing side-by-side with Lancer, while her 'Master' watched agitatedly from behind her back.

Archer, on the other hand, simply trained his glare towards the center of the dust cloud.

A single question ran on their minds.

Why hadn't Berserker emerged from the dust cloud?

The mad Servant was so eager to fight earlier, so what's stopping him now?

Archer narrowed his blood red eyes, as he aimed the 'Gate' at the dust cloud. He then shot four projectiles, attempting to make sure of things.

The projectiles hit the target, and as a result, the dust cloud was blown away…revealing a bald man in a yellow jumpsuit and the seemingly unconscious Berserker lying on his feet.

The bald man looked around with a smile that was neither amused nor mocking on his face.

"Mind if I join?"

ooo

"Berserker is down?"

Assassin was unable to believe his own eyes. A Servant who could hold his own against that Archer was lying on the ground? Absurd!

Crawling closer to the edge of the crane, Assassin wished to get a better look at the bald man who had taken down Berserker.

It was then that he felt a creeping feeling at the back of his mind.

Abruptly turning around, his eyes found nothing. Squinting his eyes to look for any signs of danger, Assassin still found nothing out of the ordinary.

"Just my imagination?"

Warily, Assassin turned around to see the battle at the dock. However that proved to be a fatal mistake.

Black tentacles crawled up the large steel machine, quickly making their way towards Assassin without making a slightest of noise.

There it was again.

That creeping feeling at the back of his mind.

Assassin, wishing it were really just his imagination, turned around again. However, instead of the night view of the city, this time he was greeted by black tentacles that were ready to attack him.

Giving him no time to respond to their presences, the tentacles immediately coiled around his legs and torso.

And then, it began dragging him down the crane.

Assassin clung desperately to the crane with his clawed hands. It was futile, however, as his arms were sliced off by one of the tentacles

Falling from a ninety-four-meter tall crane was enough to kill humans. However, Assassin was no longer a human. He was a being known as Heroic Spirit.

So, even when he was smashed to the ground from the highest point of the crane that it managed to create an audible 'Thud' sound and a small crater, he was still alive even though he was battered and armless.

The tentacles didn't stop there.

They began dragging him out of the construction area, across the street, across two building complex, until it finally stopped in an open field.

"A…a…"

Assassin tried to stand up, but his effort was denied as his legs were immediately severed. Falling to the ground again, Assassin finally saw the face of his attacker, and immediately he glared at her venomously behind his half-broken mask.

"It's you."

"Taking care of ten 'facets' of Assassin in a single day…the Masters of this war ought to repay me for doing them a small favour."

The attacker, a blonde-haired girl wearing an aquamarine dress, playfully danced around in front of Assassin.

The girl was none other than Sajyou Manaka, the girl who was connected to Root and Master of Servant Baldy.

"Hi~, mister Assassin~, mind if you show me your face?"

Putting on big puppy eyes, Manaka pleaded cutely at Assassin.

Assassin's only response was to spit at her feet through his half-broken mask.

Manaka blankly stared at Assassin, at the light brown mouth that spat on her feet.

Without warning, the 'face' of Assassin was stabbed by three tentacles and shredded to pieces.

Manaka stared emotionlessly as Assassin's body dissipated back into pure Aether. Gradually, however, her emotionless face morphed into one of madness. Her eyes glowed like a predator that had found its prey.

Cracking her head, Manaka then began sprinting towards the main street.

Seemed like there were rats spying on her.

ooo

What was that?

What was that!?

What the fuck was that!?

What was that girl!?

How did she do something like that!?

What were those tentacles that tore apart that helpless man!?

That girl couldn't be a human!

She must be a monster!

A pair of boy and girl around the age of seventeen ran with all their might. They frantically tried to escape from whatever it was that gruesomely killed the man in that open field. As they reached an alleyway, they began to slow down and slumped to the ground.

"Hey, what do you think was that?"

"I don't know. But, there's no way that thing is a human."

"It doesn't look like she notices us. And we've run this far, surely…"

The boy tried to encourage the trembling girl, but then he froze the moment someone playfully whispered in his ear.

"Surely~, 'we're safe now' is what you're thinking, am I right? Onii~san~."

The boy's heart almost jumped out of his chest. He frantically crawled away from the source of the voice, but the moment he turned to see who it was, his eyes widened in fear.

It was that monster girl! She was leaning on the wall, casually waving at them with a wide, beautiful smile that sent a chill down their spines.

How did she catch up to them so quickly!?

How didn't they notice her!?

The boy's breathing became ragged as the piercing blue eyes of the monster were focused solely on him.

His companion fared slightly better than him, but she was still considerably shaken by the fear.

"Uhuhu~, what's wrong, Onii-san, Onee-san? Why are you so scared? Is it because…of this?"

The monster sounded like an ordinary innocent girl as she asked that question, but instead that made them trembled in fear even more.

Spreading her hands, tentacles erupted from the ground, surrounding the pair.

She didn't even give them the time to scream, as she ordered the tentacles to ravage the boy.

"Hiiiiii~!"

The girl tried to move, but the fear was so great she couldn't feel her legs.

Her hands searched around for anything to use to defend herself.

There it was!

She didn't know what it was, but she had found something to use as a weapon.

"Huh?"

Why was it squishy?

Slowly, the girl glanced at the object that she had picked.

She vomited every substance in her stomach as her eyes took in the details of that object.

The object that she had picked up was the head of the boy that was with her.

"Onee-san~."

With a gentle voice, the monster girl appeared in front of her and began caressing her cheek.

The girl trembled.

The hand that caressed her cheek was small, slim, and unnaturally cold and frightening.

"Fufu~, don't worry. It won't hurt too much."

Assured the monster in a girl skin before her world turned red.

ooo

Manaka licked her lips, tasting the od of the girl she had just consumed.

"Not bad. It was lacking in quantity, but the quality is certainly a bit higher than average people. Now then, what to do with these?"

Objects that looked to belong to ordinary high schoolers were scattered around her, floating in a pool of blood.

Manaka could easily make those high schoolers forget what they saw by inserting suggestions into their minds.

But she was still 'hungry'. Even after consuming ten 'facets' of Assassin, her od tank was only half-full.

At this rate, she might have to resort to 'consuming' even more low quality sources of od.

She preferred not to do that. It would be troublesome if the Church caught wind of her activity. Worst-case scenario, they might mistake her for a dangerous Dead Apostle and sent the Executors to deal with her. If it were Mage Association's Enforcers that came after her, she would welcome them any time. At least she wouldn't have to deal with the 'Holy Scriptures'.

Remembering that she still needed to clean her mess, Manaka had an expression of someone who didn't want to clean her room even if she were forced to.

Why? Because it was a hassle. Erasing evidence was a necessary action to ensure her anonymity, but she found it too much of a work.

Still, Manaka ordered her tentacles to dispose of the remains, meticulously cleaning the bloodstains, and fixed the road.

As a result, nothing seemed out of the ordinary in this place where two people were massacred. Everything returned to how it was before she attacked them.

On the side note, Manaka hadn't realized this, but she could totally use her tentacles to help her with housework like cooking, cleaning, etc. She mustn't put aprons on them, though, since there would be too many things wrong about that.

Now that everything was clean and the clues that could lead to her existence being discovered had been taken care of, there was only one more thing that she needed to do.

And that was to observe how well her Servant fared in battle.

"I hope he doesn't die too soon~."

Manaka mused with a slightly expectant look. If he survived, it meant she had a useful tool in her hand. But if he died, well, that just meant she had to change her tactics.

Maybe she should snatch Saber from Emiya Kiritsugu should that baldy fail?

Just imagining how the Servant's and the Master's reactions would look like outside her mind almost made her shiver.

ooo

 **~ Earlier ~**

"Oh, they're really going at it."

The Baldy, Saitama, was cruising through the night sky with a full stomach.

Well, it was more accurate to say he was falling, though.

Falling~

Falling~

Falling~

Falli…

"Ah! My purse!"

The purse that he had just purchased, with all the money he had in it, slipped out of his pocket and falling towards the black-clad warrior.

Saitama's eyes widened to the point that they became bloodshot.

His purse was falling towards a war zone.

He saw the damage the black warrior and the projectiles could deal with their powers, and if his purse were to fall in the middle of that confrontation…

…he could kiss the content of his purse goodbye.

"Don't fuck with me!"

Saitama 'swam' through the sky, desperately trying to reach for his precious.

Then, suddenly an explosion happened below, and he and his precious purse were hit by a dust cloud.

What happened?

That was probably what a normal man would think.

But for Saitama, such a thing was insignificant.

After all…

"Got it!"

…the well-being of his purse was far more important than a battle between two super-powered beings.

With a wide smile of satisfaction, Saitama brought the purse close to his chest, hugging it with so much affection that if Manaka saw it, she would vomit instantly.

He didn't realize that his trajectory had shifted.

As such, the moment his feet touched the 'ground', he heard a cracking sound of something breaking.

Saitama looked down at the 'ground' and immediately he started sweating bullet.

He was standing on top of the black-clad warrior, who was motionlessly lying on the ground.

There was a large crack on the right shoulder protector.

Sweating even more profusely, Saitama realized he was the one who did this to the poor man.

"Oi! Are you dead? You're not, right? You're still alive, right!?"

Saitama frantically shook the man's body, desperately trying to wake him up.

Yet, the man remained motionless.

"…"

What should he do?

If it continued like this, he would be jailed for murder and his hero career would end.

"I know! I should throw his body into the sea! That way no one would suspect a thing if they found his body later!"

Such an evil thought was truly unbefitting of a hero. Yet, he seriously considered throwing the poor man's body to the sea.

As Saitama was pulling his non-existent, imaginary hair out of frustration, something was flying really fast towards him.

"Huh? What's this?"

Saitama caught the object that was coming at him, but was honestly confused as to what it was just by its shape.

It looked like a spear, but the edge of the blade was like a ball. Or was it like a flower? He had never seen anything like this for sure.

"Is this a weapon? But this 'round' end… I see. There's someone here who really likes toilet brush, huh? To think the day will come when a toilet brush is used as a weapon…"

That was the only possible conclusion he could come up with.

The weapon was, indeed, resembled a toilet brush. Only slightly, though. And the only thing that resembled a toilet brush in the slightest was the round edge of the blade.

That didn't stop Saitama from pondering deeply as to why someone would waste time and resources to make a metal toilet brush when a normal, functional brush was already enough to clean a toilet. Let's not even get into why they would even turn toilet brush into a weapon.

Saitama's train of thought finally stopped when he noticed the dust had dispersed with that one attack and, for better or worse, he was somehow the centre of attention.

People were staring at him with varying degree of expressions.

But there was a man in golden armour who was glaring down at him from on top of a lamppost with his piercing red eyes.

Did that man in a ridiculously expensive-looking armour notice the crime the he had committed?

Ah, he did, didn't he?

He might call the cops to arrest him anytime soon now.

Not unless he pretended he knew nothing about the dead body beside him!

Wrecking his brain, the only thing Saitama could think of to prevent the golden man from accusing him of murder was to raise his hand as a friendly gesture while flashing a 'nothing's wrong here' kind of smile (which ended up looking like an awkward smile instead).

"Mind if join?"

ooo

Saber was not known as a woman who expressed a lot of emotions. Out of obligations and responsibility to her nation, she shunned away her emotions in order to become the best king and knight she could be for her country. As a result, while not entirely bereft of emotion, she often had difficulty showing how she felt to her most loyal friends and retainers.

However, that was not the case here.

Right now, unknown to even herself, Saber had an expression that could only be described as 'shocked' as her sight fell upon the bald man.

"Ooh! Wiseman of the mountain! It's good to see you again!"

Rider gave a friendly greeting towards the bald man, but for some reason it made him agitated instead.

"Um…I think you've got the wrong person. I'm not a wiseman and I certainly haven't murdered someone."

"What are you saying? It's clearly you, Wiseman of the Mountain! What? Don't tell me you've already forgotten about me?"

The bald man stared at Rider, but then his eyes twitched.

"Ah! It's you! The muscle-bound hulk from the other day!"

"Muscle-bound hulk!? That's wrong, Wiseman! I'm the King of Conqueror! Iskandar!"

Hearing Rider's booming declaration, the bald man just scratched his smooth head.

"Yeah, never heard of you."

"What!?"

Ignoring the ridiculous and nonsensical conversation between Rider and the bald man, Saber stepped forward, pointing her invisible weapon at the bald man.

"You?! You're a Servant?"

"Oh, it's the girl from before. Thanks, you're a real life-saver."

The bald man walked towards her, wanting to shake Saber's hand as a show of his gratitude.

"Don't come closer!"

"…"

Saber's warning stopped the man on his track. The man looked a bit troubled by her hostility, but quickly relented, dropping his hand to the side.

"Saber, do you know him?"

"I've met him earlier, but I never once suspected him to be a Servant."

Answering Lancer's question, Saber continued to glare fiercely at the bald man. She should have known. Why couldn't she discern his identity the first time they met? Indeed, the man was so mediocre-looking that he didn't look even one bit like a Servant, but still she expected much better from herself. To think she would miss a Servant that was right in front of her.

Irisviel's head popped up from behind Saber's shoulders, and once he saw her, noticing her from this afternoon, the Baldy wordlessly waved his hand at her.

Irisviel's response?

"Ufufu…"

Waving back while giggling from seeing the bald man's reaction.

"You, are you Caster?"

"Me? I…I'm…"

The bald man instantly became agitated and he was sweating profusely after hearing Irisviel asking the question with a somewhat lively voice.

"There's no need to question him, Irisviel. If he's really a Servant, it's obvious that he's Caster."

"Wait! I'm not Caster! If you're looking for Caster, he should be in prison right now!"

"Is that so?

The bald man's hasty refute of his identity was met with ludicrous gazes from everyone except Archer and Rider. They didn't believe there was someone who would hand a Servant over to the authority. In the case of Rider, despite the fact that he found his words a bit ludicrous as well, his gesture, his eyes, and, more importantly, his expression told Rider that he was nothing but being truthful.

As for Archer…

"You, the rat over there. You were one of those who dare trespassed upon my domain, were you not?"

Still glaring fiercely at the bald man, Archer interrogated the man.

"Your domain? Where's that?"

"Everything in this world belongs to me. But you and your companion have made unforgivable sins that not even-."

"Is it going to take long? If it is, I'll listen to it tomorrow over dinner. "

The bald man interrupted…while picking his nose.

"You dare-."

"Hey, you guys, listen!"

ooo

"Hey, you guys, listen!

Ignoring the anger of the golden Servant, Saitama loudly spoke.

"All of you, forfeit right now and give the Holy Grail to me!"

So ordered the Baldy. Well, it wasn't really his words you see. That was just something that a certain little girl wearing an aquamarine dress told him to say.

'If you tell them this, I'm highly confident they will forfeit the War. Despite their personalities, Servants are actually very altruistic in nature. They will surely listen to your plea and grant you your wishes. You just have to make it sounded ve~ry realistic.'

So she said.

Initially, he was highly suspicious of her, thinking she was lying and just wanted to mess with him again. But, no, he was wrong.

She was right. None of them objected.

"I refuse."

"No can do, even if you're the one asking Wiseman. But you can join my army if you want! No, in fact, Wiseman! Join my army!"

"I have sworn on my spears and my honour that I will bring the Grail back to my Master. I will not betray him."

"What nonsense are you saying now, mongrel? Everything in this world is mine! And so, too, the Grail!"

He took it back. She was a freaking liar. They were all pretty damn selfish.

Hearing their objections, Saitama simply turned around with a dark look on his face. He didn't even feel like doing what Manaka had asked of him, to weaken the Servants.

"Where do you think you're going, cur?"

"Uh…home? I've said what I need to say, so now I want to go take a long bath and sleep."

He was just answering the question honestly, so why in the world did the golden man look so pissed?

"Don't think you can leave as you like, Caster. This is a battle, and in a battlefield, removing the biggest unknown as fast as possible is one of-."

"You deaf or what? I've said I'm not Caster."

The veins on his head were bulging at being addressed as Caster again, this time by a muscular pretty boy in a tight dark teal outfit who wielded spear in each hand.

He was totally wearing that outfit just so he could show off his abs all the time without being called a pervert, wasn't he?

That's what Saitama thought, seeing the spearman's outfit.

"Tell us, then, what is your Class?"

"Guh!"

The angel in blue armour that helped him this afternoon asked a piercing question with a smirk.

Was she angry with him? She was angry with him, wasn't she? What did he ever do to her?

Feeling that he could never escape from that moniker, Saitama had a resigned look on his face.

"…Baldy."

Everyone blinked as the Baldy muttered his Class dejectedly.

"Repeat that again?"

"I'm…Servant Baldy."

…

…

…

…

…

…

"Huh?" x4

That was the only thing that Saber, Irisviel von Einzbern, Waver Velvet, and Lancer could say as a form of response.

Rider was laughing like he just heard the best joke in his life, jokingly asking things like 'so if a Servant has an extraordinary feature on their body, their Class will be linked to that? If so, why isn't my class being Manly instead?'

"SHUUUUUUUUTTT UUUUPPPPPPPP!"

The Baldy, Saitama, screamed angrily at Rider. He would've blown him to pieces if only he were a monster.

Two people weren't dumbstrucked or laughing, however.

That was because one of them was busy glaring at him, or rather what lied on the ground near him, with contempt as the space behind him started to ripple.

The second one was…

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

Just roaring like a beast as he shot up from where he was lying towards the golden Servant.

Everyone's attention went to the source of the mad cry, and immediately they raised their guards. Except for one person who was teary-eyed at seeing the black-clad warrior on his feet again.

"Oh good, he's alive! I won't be jailed for murder!"

So thought Saitama.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

"Disappear from my eyes, you mutts!"

"Eh?"

Projectiles were shooting out from behind the golden Servant. Half of them struck the black-clad warrior, hurling him into the air until he fell on top of a container. The other half, on the other hand….

"Dude, what the hell?"

The Baldy stared at the golden man questioningly as he held four swords in each hand.

"Take that as a warning. My business with you has not yet concluded, Baldy."

"Business? What business? Dude, you've been blabbering nonsense since earlier, is your head all right? You sure you didn't get the wrong person? I sure as hell don't remember meeting someone as unnecessarily flashy as you."

The complained from Saitama only served to further aggravate the golden Servant.

"You dare forgot your cr-."

Paying zero attention to the boiling face of the golden Servant, Saitama pointed with his thumb at the fallen black warrior several meters behind him.

"Also, let's go apologize to that guy over there. We've both hit him. He must be really mad right now."

As if agreeing with his words, explosions occurred from behind the bald man, and Berserker shot out of the dust. The black-clad Servant was holding a container with one hand. However, what sets off the danger alarms of everyone except for the Baldy was the fact that the container was black and occasionally glowed with reddish purple light.

"Wiseman! Move!"

Rider tried to warn Saitama, but he just watched silently, unmoving despite the obvious target of the black-clad warrior. And the next moment, Berserker slammed the metal container down on him.

"Fool! Why didn't he dodge!?"

Saber was flabbergasted. Never before she saw someone so foolish as to not dodge such a direct…attack…

"You satisfied now?"

"SCARY!"

Waver screamed at the scene before his very eyes.

Saitama's head was poking out of the destroyed container, questioning the black-clad warrior with an apologetic voice. What made it frightening was his head was poking out until his neck, making it looked a decapitated head. His expressionless face didn't help either, for it further made him looked like a ghost straight out of horror movie.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

"Oi, wait, we're even now, so you can stop attacking me. Hey, are you even listening to me?"

Berserker grabbed Saitama' head and yanked him out of the container. Then, he slammed the Baldy down to the ground and began striking him with one of the weapons that Archer fired earlier.

He used a sledgehammer-like weapon to smash the Baldy's head deep into the concrete, before continuing to wildly swing it to his body.

"…"

Saitama was about to retaliate a bit, thinking of knocking the black-clad warrior out with a light smack, but suddenly the onslaught stopped.

"ROOAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

"Mongrel!"

Archer instantly fired projectiles from the Gate, seeing that Berserker had switched his target back to him, completely ignoring the fallen Baldy whose eyes were twitching from annoyance.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

"Perish! Mon-."

"Okay, that's enough."

"RAAAAHHHH?!"

The moment Berserker was about to collide with the projectiles, Saitama appeared above him and smacked him to the ground. He then proceeded to catch the projectiles midair, before crushing them in his hands.

"You guys have temper issues, you know that? What's so difficult with saying 'I'm sorry'? I know you're pissed at being attacked, but you, gold guy, you really need to start listening to people when they talk."

Saitama lectured the golden Servant, while holding Berserker down with his right foot.

"Oh? Is that not a description of yourself, mongrel?"

"I'm always listening to people when they talk to me."

"That's definitely a lie," was what everyone was thinking at that moment.

"More importantly, if you keep this up, you're gonna be in a life full of troubles. I bet your friends and family don't want to see you like this. Or do you have no family or friends?"

Saitama asked with a curious gaze.

At the mention of 'friends', Archer's scowling face softened ever so slightly. Archer, looking like he had lost interest in the matter in front of his eyes, turned his back towards Saitama.

"Mongrel, you should be grateful that your foolish nature has diminished my interest in this mundane battle. However, know this. For the crime of insulting and standing up against a King, I will personally see to it that you are properly executed."

And with that hostile declaration, Archer disappeared into thin air.

…

…

…

…

"A King!?"

Snot started running from Saitama's nose as terrible thoughts were playing in his mind.

"By a King, does he mean King as in King of a country? Wait a second, will he brand me as a villain?"

This was the worst-case scenario. He had thought he was safe from being put on a trial of murder, because his victim was still alive, but now he found out a leader of a country was personally after his head. So that mean he would still end up getting jailed? How could this be?

Saitama was so preoccupied with the thought of having to deal with authority in the court that he did not realize that Berserker had also vanished from under his foot.

After a minute or two of frustrating himself, Saitama finally knew what he needed to do next.

"Oh well, forget about that. Let's just go get some puddings and sleep."

He basically had shoved off all his anxiety out of his head, knowing that since there's nothing he could do about it right now, he just had to deal with it when the time came.

Paying no heed to the Servants and Masters who didn't know what to take from what they saw, Saitama walked away, wondering if there were any 24-hour convenience stores nearby.

"Is it over?"

Waver, who was hiding behind Rider since Berserker started pummeling Saitama, peeked his head out from behind the large Servant's mantle.

"That was…"

"Rider?"

"That might, that obliviousness, and above all, that divine protection granted by that bald head! I thought I want him in my army, but I was wrong… I MUST have him join me!"

"Rider, where are we going!?"

"Chasing him! Gahahahahahahahahaha~!"

And with a jolly laughter Rider pulled the bridle of the divine bulls, and his chariot, with him and his Master inside, took off to the sky like a lightning of the sky god, Zeus.

"…"

"…"

"…"

The three individuals left behind in the scene were staring blankly as the Heroic Spirit of the Mount and his Master rode into the night sky, leaving them unsure what to do next.

Eventually, 'the man who wore tight outfit for the sake of showing off his abs without being called a pervert', Lancer, spoke.

"Saber, I hope we can continue our duel sometime soon."

"Are you leaving, Lancer?"

"Master has ordered my return. If it is up to me, I would like to continue where we left off immediately. Alas, my Master's order is of the utmost importance to me."

"Very well. Let's pray nothing interfere us next time."

"Fuh."

Slightly amused by Saber's words, Lancer disappeared into thin air.

Irisviel couldn't help giggling, making Saber turned around in confusion.

"Sorry, it's just…with everything that happens tonight, it's good to see you make a friend, Saber."

"That's not..."

Irisviel's glowing face of joy made it difficult for Saber to refute her. In front of such purity, even the famed Heroic Spirit of the Sword could do nothing but look down in resignation.

"Servant…Baldy…"

Saber muttered the Class of the bald Servant. She felt he was ridiculing her with that ridiculous name. She knew he was lying, yet at the same time he didn't look like he was lying when he said Caster was in prison.

What was the truth, then?

Who was that bald man?

Was he really a Servant?

"Saber, your eyebrows are knitting together. What are you thinking about?"

"I was merely wondering…about that man with the white cape… It's the first time I don't know what to make of a person. Not that it matters, I will strike down anyone who is in our path to obtaining the Grail."

"Saber…"

Irisviel hid her uneasiness upon seeing the conviction in Saber's face. Even so, she was still worried that perhaps, just perhaps, some outsiders had, unknown to the Einzbern, tinkered with the Holy Grail War system, adding extra functionalities that could potentially alter the entire War.

If that was the case, then what should she do?

What would happen to this war?

For now, Irisviel felt the need to confirm whether the bald man was Caster or, as he proclaimed, another Servant entirely.

ooo

Meanwhile, as Saitama was 'confronting' the Servants, somewhere in the street of Fuyuki, a blond-haired man and a lavender-haired young girl were walking leisurely towards a certain house where the girl used to live.

The man was wearing a black sleeveless shirt and blue jeans, while the girl was wearing a white shirt that was slightly too big for her body and a red skirt.

That was because the man had stolen those clothes for the girl, or else she would spend the entire journey wearing her birthday suit.

The man wished it didn't have to come to this, but he had no choice. After all there were no such thing as 24/7 department stores. Other clothing shops were already closed as well.

He had no choice but to break into one of the stores, and took random clothes that looked fitting for a child.

He did leave a note for them, though, stating 'I'll pay it later'.

It perplexed him, however, when he thought about the lax security of those stores. To think there was no security camera installed in any of those stores.

"Are they so confident that thieves wouldn't try stealing their goods?"

The man began pondering what made them so confident when the young girl pulled on his shirt.

"Genos-oniisan."

"Hmm?"

"Um…that is…thank you!"

The young girl shouted her gratitude with a flushed face.

The man, the cyborg Genos, simply put a hand on her head.

"Don't worry about it. For now let's just focus on getting you home, Sakura."

"Okay."

The young girl, Sakura, timidly nodded, grabbing Genos' metal hand with one hand while pointing out the direction of her home for him with the other.

They walked silently; contend with the lack of noise that would ruin the silent of the night.

Suddenly, Sakura stopped walking and let go of Genos' hand.

"Genos-oniisan…do you think…do you think Otou-san and Okaa-san will accept me back?"

"What kind of question is that?"

Sakura suddenly asked a question that slightly baffled Genos.

"I've been told by Ojii-sama that the reason I was in his care is because Otou-sama doesn't want me anymore, that it's because I'm not worthy of the Tohsaka's lineage Crest."

"Tohsaka's lineage…is this related to Magecraft?"

"Un."

"I see. But don't you think that old man was lying to you? He might've said those things just to keep you chained to him."

Upon hearing Genos' question, Sakura reflexively clenched her oversized shirt.

"But…"

"Standing here just thinking about it won't provide answers. Let's go."

"Un."

Genos gently pushed her forward, and although reluctant, she was still walked in front of him with eyes looking forward.

"…"

She was a strong girl. That was what Genos was thinking upon seeing the back of that young girl.

Quietly, he scanned her body again.

It was faint but he could still see those worms inside her, wriggling around, eating her body.

"It must be painful, yet she didn't cry even once…"

She was a strong girl, indeed.

"We're here."

Genos was so preoccupied with Sakura's condition that he was slightly surprised when Sakura stopped walking and said they had arrived in their destination.

"So this is your house."

It was a two-storey house that was quite large compared to average two-storey houses.

The front yard was designed to be spacious enough to allow decorative flowers to be planted besides the stone footpath.

The fences were high and sturdy enough that it would be hard for burglars to enter without proper preparations beforehand.

As for the design of the house itself, it was giving off the 'antique' vibe for Genos.

Perhaps this house had been passed down for generations?

More importantly…

"What should we do, Genos-oniisan? The gate's already been locked."

Sakura turned to look at Genos with teary eyes. Genos' response was simply to pick her up with his hand.

Then, without warning, he jumped over the fence and landed right in front of the front door.

Slowly, he let Sakura's down. She appeared to be quite shaken by the sudden stunt that Genos pulled. Nevertheless, she hurriedly straightened her back and gave Genos a pouty stare.

"Do you want me to knock the door for you?"

Genos, completely missing the angry pout that Sakura was giving him, asked.

Sakura shook her head.

"I'll do it."

"All right."

Genos stepped back, looking at Sakura walking to the front door.

Sakura was fidgeting. It seemed she was feeling somewhat hesitant to see her family.

Slowly, slowly, she put her knuckle on the door, and then she lightly knocked on it.

No response.

Sakura knocked again, but like before, there was no response from the other side.

She was about to try for the third time, when a motherly voice spoke from behind the door.

"Yes? Who is it?"

Sakura's expression instantly perked up. She knew that voice. She knew the owner of that voice.

With a hearty voice, Sakura called out to the person behind the door.

"Okaa-san!"

…

…

…

"…Saku…ra?"

ooo

Saitama was walking down an empty street, with a plastic bag full of puddings in his hand.

He was heading back towards the villa, when he saw the girl in an aquamarine dress, Sajyou Manaka, waving at him while sitting on a park bench, gesturing for him to come to her.

"…"

Let's ignored her and moved on.

"Saitama~, if you ignore me, I'll do something even more amazingly artistic with your head~."

And so said the blonde little girl.

Saitama frightfully stared at her as if she was his greatest nightmare.

Something even more amazingly artistic than the thing she did to his head this morning? What could it be?

Whatever it was, it was enough to make Saitama sweat bullets and obediently sat beside her.

"I see that you're still alive. Colour me impressed, I honestly believed you would die tonight."

"Is that all you want to say?"

"Of course not. So, how was it? Your first encounter with other Servants?"

"Ah, yeah, about that… You lied to me, didn't you? What part of them is selfless? They're all acting pretty selfish."

Saitama said, sending an accusing gaze at Manaka, which she dismissed while rolling her eyes.

"It's your own fault for being so gullible. More importantly, how was it? You haven't given me a proper answer. What's your impression of them?"

"That's right, I'm certain now that I've talked to them."

"Talked? You didn't fight?"

Manaka asked with a raised brow. If there were no fight occurring, then things really were proceeding differently than how it was supposed to be. That would also explain how the Baldy escaped from the supposed confrontation between Berserker and Archer unscathed.

Manaka waited for Saitama to give his answer, but seeing him cleaning his ear with that stupid look on his face really hit her nerves.

"Why should I? They're humans. If they're villains or monster, that's another story."

Manaka stared at him passively. Hearing his foolish reply made her felt slightly frustrated. No, she should have prepared herself to hear this kind of answers from him.

She had to admit, though; she was curious why he kept insisting that those Heroic Spirits were humans when all of them, save for one, were just copy of the originals.

Still…maybe she should try manipulating him a bit.

"Then there's no need for you to worry. I didn't mention it, but those Servants are not humans. They are mere 'dolls'…'copies', I should say, created from the likeness of the originals that are stored in the Root. Of course their originals were humans, but with this it should be clear to you, right? They are not humans and shouldn't be treated as one."

"Uh…no, 'copies' of humans are still human. Have you ever copied someone else's homework when you were in elementary? It's a copy but it still gets treated as proper homework in the end. It's basically the same stuff."

"…"

Manaka's face was blank. Never before had she heard a comparison as bad as this.

Comparing a Servant to school homework? What was he? An idiot?

No, she already knew he was stupid, but to think his train of thought was this simple… Dear Root, just what did she do to deserve this punishment?

"…Hah…"

She felt tired already from listening to him even though she was feeling upbeat earlier. Manaka stood up, wanting to go back and rest, when Saitama grabbed her hand.

"Oi, wait."

"What? Do you need something from me?"

"Here."

Manaka blinked. Saitama had handed a pudding to her. She honestly had no idea what his intention was.

"What is this? If this your way of bribing me, it is far too cheap."

Manaka said, sneering at him.

"Bribing you? Why would I do that? I just bought too much of the same flavor, so I was thinking of giving some to you. I wouldn't give one to you otherwise."

…

…

…

Talking about selfish, here's one that's a paragon of it.

Manaka sighed and sat down once again.

"Fine, but if I don't like it, I'll draw sunflowers on your head."

"Is that how you treat someone who shows you kindness?"

"No. That's how I treat stupid, selfish, simpleton bald people."

"You're totally talking about me, aren't you?"

"Of course not. Unless…you are actually a stupid, selfish simpleton?"

Manaka smirked seeing the pissed off face of Saitama. It was refreshing to see him looked so pissed like this. Maybe it was her sadistic side that couldn't help but wanting to see him humiliated.

"Anyway~, Itadakimasu~."

Manaka and Saitama opened the puddings in their hands, and put a spoonful of it into their mouths with an enourmous smile on their faces.

Moments later they were on all fours on the ground, puking.

ooo

"My King."

"Tokiomi, why are you here? I've told you not to enter the room unless you have something of significance to tell me."

"Please forgive my impudence. However, I am merely curious. My King, if you are willing to tell this subject of yours, please tell me why are you so unsettled?"

"Unsettled? Me?"

Archer's eyed Tokiomi dangerously, but did nothing more.

"Yes. Ever since your return, you seem slightly…off, if I might put it."

"Hmph. A mongrel dare to say how his King is feeling…you've become arrogant, Tokiomi."

Although there was a hint of amusement in that voice, Tokiomi still bowed his head, asking for forgiveness.

"Does this have anything to do with that…'Servant'?"

Tokiomi asked, emphasizing the word 'Servant' so Archer knew whom he meant. No, even if he didn't, perhaps he would know whom it was that he was talking about.

"That Baldy…"

"Yes."

"Tokiomi, what do you know about him?"

"Truthfully? Nothing at all, My King. There is no record of a Servant Class named Baldy, and the only anomaly ever recorded was the summoning of Avenger in the previous War. If there were ever a Servant Class called Baldy implemented in the War, then it should have been written down in the record."

Tokiomi answered firmly.

The moment the Baldy appeared, he had thought of him as Caster, and even when he claimed he was not, Tokiomi didn't believe him at all.

That changed the moment Kirei reported something urgent to him.

'The entire police force of Fuyuki branch had been decimated."

Recalling the words of his accomplice made Tokiomi grimaced. Not from knowing that there were innocent casualties. He was concerned that the existence of magic would be leaked to the populace by this assault.

On top of that, Kirei had confirmed through Assassin that the culprits were a Servant and his Master.

Judging from how Assassin described him, with a book in hand and wearing a robe, he could only surmise that it had to be Caster.

If it were indeed Caster, it would fit perfectly with what the Baldy had said to them. That he handed Caster over to the authority.

That meant he wasn't Caster, just like he said.

Then, what was he? What Servant was he?

There was no Class called 'Baldy'.

Maybe he lied to conceal what his actual Class was. Or maybe, he wasn't a Servant in the first place, and he was merely trying to disguise himself as one.

That begot a question: For what?

What would he achieve by doing that? Only Masters and Servants chosen by the Grail could obtain it, and risking himself to fight against Servants for nothing…he could not fathom what ran in that bald man's head.

"Should I make the preparation to have him eliminated, my King?"

Tokiomi waited for the golden Servant's response, but knowing him, Tokiomi was certain what kind of answer he would give.

"No. Leave him be, for now."

"…Wha-."

"Do you not hear me? Leave him be, for now."

It was not the kind of response Tokiomi had expected from the prideful King.

"…May I know why?"

Snorting in amusement, Archer rose and stood in front of Tokiomi.

"You dare question my decision?"

"No, that's not what I…"

"Very well, I'll humour you this one time."

Tokiomi inwardly released a relief sigh. Who knew what would happen to him had he angered the golden Servant right in front of the person himself.

"I want to ascertain something."

"Ascertain…something?"

"That Baldy…he dares catch my treasures in his hands. However…I must say I'm impressed. The only one who was able to accomplish such feats was the only being whom I had ever and will ever call a friend."

"My King…are you saying…"

Gilgamesh laughed at Tokiomi's assumption.

"No, no, Tokiomi. That mongrel is not him. However, if my assumptions are correct, then you should rejoice, Tokiomi. It is possible that the Age of Gods is coming back to this world."

Archer declared to Tokiomi, who could only look at the golden Servant with eyes of disbelief.

ooo

In a children's playground near a kindergarten, a man and a young girl were sitting on the swing, looking somber and paid no heed to the chilling night wind.

The older of the two didn't know what he should say to cheer up the younger girl, who had continued to look down ever since their visit to her home.

However, he should at least try.

"Sakura."

"I should've known…"

"…"

"Uuu….uuu…"

Tears finally flowed from Sakura's eyes. As if the dam that held back her emotions finally broke, Sakura sobbed uncontrollably.

Genos could do nothing but to sit there without saying a word, while putting his hand on her head.

ooo

 **~ Flashback ~**

"Okaa-san!"

"…Saku…ra?"

"Yes, it's me! Okaa-san! I've come back!"

"It can't be…it really is you?"

Sakura was overjoyed to hear her mother's voice. She had feared that she would be rejected, but the moment the person behind the door addressed her with that familiar soothing voice, her fear was washed away.

Hoping that she would open the door soon, Sakura barely able to contain her excitement to meet with her mother.

"Please…leave…"

"Eh?"

Sakura froze. She must have misheard it. There's no way her kind and caring mother would ask her to leave.

"Okaa…san?"

"Please…you have ben entrusted to the Matou, in this house…there is no longer a child named Sakura…"

"…Okaa…san…"

"What are you saying to your own da-."

Genos was about to step in, but Sakura shook her head, stopping him from saying more.

"…I beg of you…Sakura..."

"…"

Wordlessly, Sakura turned around and walked out of the gate. Her front bangs covered her face, but Genos could detect moistures were welling up in her eyes.

Genos was about to follow her, when the person behind the door pleaded to him with a restrained voice, sniffing as if she couldn't hold back her tears anymore.

"Please…whoever you are… Please look after her. Please look after my dear Sakura…"

"There's no need to ask."

Genos replied. Looking back to the person behind the door, he started to question how the Magi's world actually worked, to cause so much grief for this mother and daughter.

ooo

"Uuuu…uuuuuuuuu…"

"Is it normal for Magi to discard their children? And that worm man from before…doing such heinous act on her…"

Genos closed his eyes. Perhaps, he should've been more proactive and tried to intervene for Sakura's sake. But regretting it now wouldn't change a thing; all he could do was to look after this young girl while searching for Sensei. Yes, the important thing right now was not criticizing the Magi's conduct or lamenting his lack of action. What he needed to do right now was…

"Uuuu..."

What he needed to do right now was…

"Wipe your tears, Sakura. We need to find a place to stay for the night. It'd be bad for your health, otherwise."

Genos said, handing her a white handkerchief. He needed to support this girl, at least until he was able to find a place that would accept her and guaranteed her safety from dangers.

"…"

Sakura was unresponsive. Not only she didn't take the handkerchief, it's like she wasn't even aware of his presence.

"Sakura?"

Genos crouched in front of Sakura, staring at her directly in the face. His eyes slowly narrowed as he saw Sakura's condition.

Her face looked awful and her eyes were lifeless, almost like the girl that he was with before had been replaced with a flimsy doll.

He waved his hand in front of her, trying to get some sort of reaction, but she remained motionless and unresponsive.

"Guess I have no choice."

With a heavy sigh, Genos felt he had no other choice than to do this. He carried Sakura, who still showed no sign of responding to him, on his shoulder and began looking for a place to stay.

Genos couched down slightly, and then he jumped onto the roof of a house.

"…"

"I don't know if you still want to live or not. But, Sakura, your mother asked me to keep you safe, and I have no plan to do otherwise."

Genos said to her as they were jumping from roof to roof, searching for the nearest inn or hotel to stay.

As Sakura was facing his back, Genos couldn't see her face.

At that moment, the lifeless a single tear flowed down her face, and small light shone in her lifeless eyes.

ooo

On the sewer system beneath Fuyuki city, Caster and his Master were hiding after they made their escape from the police. They were planning to take back the 'materials' that were unjustly taken from them to continue their 'artworks' when Caster decided to inspect the status of the War.

No matter how deranged he was, Caster was still a Servant with a wish, and to fulfill that wish he had to win the Grail War. Materializing a crystal ball in his hand, Caster peered into the ball, attempting to see the Servants who were participating in the War.

"Master, what should we do next? We've played lots and lots of games with the cops, so maybe we should go super sneaky this time and get our 'materials' from nearby elementary school instead.

"Oooooh…"

"Master?"

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH~! Ryuunosuke! My Master! A miracle, a miracle has occurred! My wish has been granted! Jeanne has…Jeanne has…Jeanne has returned to life!"

Caster suddenly screamed elatedly, leaving Ryuunosuke dumbfounded.

"Really, Master!? Awesome!"

"However…what is this? Something does not seem right. Why? What is it? What is…Hah!"

"Master?"

"Bu…

"Bu?"

Ryuunosuke repeated, confused with what Caster was trying to say. Suddenly, however, Caster pointed his finger to the sky.

"BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDDDDHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAA~!"

"Wah! Master! What?"

"Buddha, Ryuunosuke! Look at this! Buddha! He's conversing with Jeanne! And this level of familiarity… I see! I understand now!"

"Master, please don't keep me out of the loop! I have no idea what you're saying."

Caster grabbed Ryuunosuke's shoulder and showed him the images reflected in the crystal ball.

It was the Baldy and Saber, on the dock, with Saber pointing her weapon at him.

"It was him, Ryuunosuke! He was the one who granted my wish! Ooh…to think Buddha would grant my wish when God would Himself would ignore the prayers of His people…"

Caster mumbled with eyes shining as if he had reached a state of enlightenment.

"Okay, so that means we should give Buddha our gratitude, right Master?"

Ryuunosuke excitedly suggested to Caster's agreement.

"Indeed, Ryuunosuke. However! Just any presents won't do. Jeanne and Buddha, we have to prepare the greatest surprise for them~!"

Caster declared much to Ryuunosuke's joy.

"So that means, so that means we've got to prepare lots of cool stuff for them! Right, Master!?"

"Yes, yes, lots of coooooo~llll!"

With a hearty laugh, Caster and Ryuunosuke headed towards the deepest part of the sewer system, all the while giddily thinking about the 'cool stuffs' that they could create for 'Jeanne' and 'Buddha' once they obtained their 'materials'.

ooo

"Hah…hah…hah…."

A sickly-looking white-haired man wearing a black hoodie was breathing erratically as he headed towards the house where 'that monster' lived. Even though he suffered unbearable pain caused by the Crest worms injected into his body, the reason the man could keep standing without falling even once was because he knew he was the only one who could save 'her'.

He made a deal with 'that monster' that if he won the Holy Grail War 'that monster' would give him 'her' custody.

It was also a good opportunity for him to punish 'that man' for giving 'her' to 'that monster'. For that reason, he had summoned a berserker clad in black medieval knight armour, so he could defeat 'that man's' Servant.

However, the event that happened tonight had delayed that opportunity.

It was because of that bald Servant. Somehow he managed to take down his Servant not only once, but twice.

Although the bald Servant didn't kill his Servant, his Servant took a considerable damage to his body, even though his armour was supposed to grant him protection from normal physical attack.

And that was the strangest thing. The bald Servant did nothing but give a light slap to his Servant. Yet why did the damage was so great?

He wanted to know. He needed to know. If that man stood in his way to save 'her', then he was nothing but an enemy, the same as 'that man' and 'that monster'.

The man continued to walk limply towards the house where 'that monster' imprisoned 'her'. But, by the time he arrived there, he could only stared in horror.

"What…What is this? What happened here?"

He weakly muttered.

In the place where the house was supposed to stand, a large, black, gaping hole was there instead, and the dungeon where 'that monster' spent the majority of his time with 'her' was covered in rubble.

By the look of it, it almost like the house was engulfed in a massive explosion.

No, not only this house. Even the surrounding houses that were quite a distance away from 'that monster's' house were damaged.

He wasn't concerned about the residents of those houses, however. 'That monster' had 'evacuated' every house in the radius of one kilometer from 'that monster's' house so there wouldn't be any witnesses should a battle happen here.

No, more importantly…

"Sakura! Is she alive!? Sakuraaaaaaa!"

The man shouted 'her' name, fear and panic filled his heart as he frantically looked at his surrounding, trying to find any signs of life. He slid down the hole, and began digging through the rubble, hoping to find Sakura still alive in there.

"Sakura…! Sakura…! Sakura…! Sakura...! Don't worry; I'll get you out of there. I know you're in there, so please answer me, Sakura..."

The man begged with tearful eyes, his pale complexion turned even paler as his body felt even more painful from doing this strenuous activity.

CRACK

"!"

Something was moving over there.

The man, looking like he found his ray of hope, ran towards that particular spot and began digging. He paid no heed to the pain that continued to eat away at his body, to the blood that poured from his fingers, as long as he could save Sakura.

"Sakura, hang in there! I'll get you out soon."

The rock was shaking, Sakura must be under that. That was what the man thought.

However, the moment he pushed away that large rock, he was instantly horrified.

"No…it can't be. Why? Why is it you!?"

The man screamed from both anger and agony.

What lied down there was a single worm. However, unlike the Crest worms in his body, this worm's shape was unique. It looked similar to a tapeworm, except there was a human heart-like bulb protruded from its head.

He didn't know why it was different, and what purpose it served, but he knew one thing.

'That monster' was alive.

Without warning, the worm slithered towards him with astounding speed. Having no time to react, the man could only watch hopelessly as the worm entered his body through his hand, and headed towards his heart.

"A….Aaaaaaaaahhaaahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

The pain was unbelievable. It was beyond anything that he had ever experienced.

His blood was boiling, his bones were breaking, his organs were melting…he never knew such pain existed.

"You do have your use, after all."

"You!"

Gritting his teeth, his anger from hearing that voice was enough to make him forget about the pain momentarily.

"Where's Sakura!? Where did you take her!?"

"Those questions should not be directed to me…for I, too, don't know where she is…for now."

"Yo-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"

His body was burning. The worms within his body were responding to the tapeworm-like creature that entered his body and they began eating him from the inside.

He fell down. He no longer could feel his legs. It wasn't just his legs; he couldn't feel his arms as well.

"What do you do to me!? Zouken!"

"Nothing much…I am just using your body as a 'medium' to reform my body."

"Gbhuuuauuuuauuuauuhh!"

The man vomited out a large volume of blood, as every organ in his body had been eaten and his mind was no longer able to process what was happening.

"…A..,i..san…"

As his life faded, he muttered the name of the woman that he had ever loved, regretting his decision to give up on her on that day.

The man's lifeless body lied on top of the rubble, unmoving, motionless, without life. Yet…

"Hoh hoh hoh…"

An inhuman laughter came out of the throat of that lifeless body.

The lifeless body of the man stood like a broken mannequin. As if it was merely a cover made of plastic, the skin of the man was 'peeled off', revealing a scrawny, wrinkly old man wearing a purple kimono inside.

He was the old man who was blasted away by Genos just hours ago, the patriarch of the Matou family, Zouken Matou.

"Hoh hoh. I should have done this from the very beginning. Kariya, I shall use the Servant that you had summoned to win the War myself."

The old man laughed, as he stared at the Command Seals that were now engraved on his left hand. The Command Seals that used to belong to Matou Kariya had now been transferred to him the moment Zouken used him to recreate his body.

"Still…it was a good thing that I hid the Heart Worm in a separate place. Had I placed it in the same spot as my ritual circle, even with all the enhancement and protections I've put in place, it would still be…incinerated."

Zouken mused with a dark smile.

"Berserker…"

A black-clad knight materialized in front of Zouken the moment he whispered that name, and then it kneeled down on one knee like it would to its king.

"Ka…kah kah kah kah kah kah kah kah kah kah kah kah kah!"

Zouken couldn't stop himself from laughing. With this Servant's power in his hand, and his knowledge and Magecraft, there was nothing that could possibly stand in his way to obtain the Grail.

But first, he would need to retrieve a stolen property of his.

ooo

 **End of chapter 5.**

 **Maybe I should try writing in 1st person just to see if it fits me or not. Also, by my estimate, it's 2-3 more chapters until Caster gets 'one punched'.**

ooo

 **Preview of Chapter 6**

 **Demon Cyborg vs. Berserker**

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

"Tch…he's like a mad beast. Sakura! Stay far away from me!"

"Hoh hoh hoh…don't worry, I will look after her for you, just like the way I have done so before."

"This voice-GAH!"

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

"Ojii…sama?"

"The fact that you're here, Sakura, means that you've learned that the Tohsaka wouldn't accept you back, am I right?"

"…"

"You! How are you still alive!?"

"Come here, Sakura. You no longer have any place other than by my side. Come back to me, and I might spare that foolish man's life. Unlike Kariya…"

"…Kariya…Ojii-san is dead?"

"Yes, yes he is. He died trying to save you. He tried to be a hero for you, but nevertheless he failed and died without being able to change anything, like a weed at the side of the road. Now you know...unless you listen to me, all the people you care will lose their lives."

"…"

"Don't listen to him! Sakura!"

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

"Tch!"

"What is your choice, Sakura?"

"…I…"

"Sakura! Don't!"

"Please let me return to your side, Ojii-sama. I don't need anyone else anymore."

"A smart choice. Berserker, finish that man."

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

"…."

"Sakura…"

 **~ Meanwhile ~**

"Saitama, take off your clothes."

"You gonna wash it?"

"No, we're going to have sex."

…

…

…

…

…

…

"Wait a second, I'll call an ambulance for you."


	7. Great news

Great news guys! Arcreed said he would start re-posting his story back again soon!


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